Cyclone
by ShindaHotaru
Summary: After a tragic accident with the Thousand Sunny, the Strawhat Pirates find themselves split into groups in a foreign country. A spiral of problems escalates as they try to get back together and move on. What seems a peaceful life soon turns into hell. ZoSan, point of views of all crew members included. Hints of LuNa. Rated M for language and violence. Somehow AU.
1. Chapter 1

A huge smirk crawled onto his lips, he leaned back in the driver's seat and rested his feet on the car's dashboard, the cigar stuck between his thumb and index finger. No hesitating, he pushed it right between his lips and sucked on it, releasing the thick smoke with a deep sigh. With a smile he rested his hand on his thigh, ignoring the possibility of ash ruining his dress pants, and turned to look at his friend on the passenger's seat. They both had thrown their ties and jackets onto the back seats, first few buttons of their chemises opened and their feet resting on the dashboard. "Cannot believe you're not allowed to smoke at home," he pointed out as every day and inhaled the tobacco again, "Man, this is good."

"What do I know why he's against it," the other man chuckled, brushing through his green hair with long fingers, "He'll rip my head off if I'm smelling of smoke anyway. It's not like it's my business that he stopped smoking, is it. I don't tell him to stop eating because he smells of food all the time."

The man on the driver's seat laughed, "Just be glad he quit the job at the fish market. Hell, did he stink... did you burn his clothes when he quit?" He held the cigar between his teeth to lean over and grab an ashtray; no matter how much he loved smoking, he loved his car more than anything.

"Oh you should've seen him, Luffy, he freaked out on me big time," the green-haired man chuckled, tipping on his own cigar over the ashtray, "Once I knew for sure he would work in that restaurant, I grabbed all his work clothes, threw them into a bin in the backyard and set it on fire. He kept kicking me over and over again until he was tired. The next day, he didn't look at me or talk to me but I got my breakfast nonetheless."

"I guess he was grateful but wouldn't admit it," Luffy smiled, knowing his best friends too well, "And it's not like he would've worn them anymore anyway. He's so picky with his clothes and shoes and that hair of his. He's as much of a girl as Nami."

A nod was the response of the other man who sucked in more of his cigar's smoke before talking. "I still don't get how you can live with her. I mean, she's like a leech, except that she wants your money and not your blood," he grinned, shaking his head, "Does she even try to find a job? I bet she doesn't, that's so like her to boss you around and waste your money instead of earning her own."

"That's better than have her run off, Zoro. I really don't want to lose any more of you again and if earning money for her luxurious lifestyle and marrying her makes her stay then that's what I gotta do," Luffy countered back, finishing his cigar and dropping it into the ashtray. A shiny silver band was decorating his ring finger, it was worth half a month's salary but his fiancée had requested it. "So, is Sanji home? I'm not really in for burgers."

"Yeah, I guess he is, he has off the whole week," Zoro replied, figuring it was wise to drop the subject. They had gotten into fights over it several times too much and he didn't want to risk it again. Not after a stressful day at work. "I think he's expecting you anyway, so you're welcome."

"Awesome," Luffy smiled widely and settled back into his seat to start the engine, "Can't wait to have real food again. I swear, I call the pizza guy so often that when I don't call once, he calls me to check if I'm alive."

"You really need to learn how to cook, it's not that hard, you know," Zoro chuckled, "You can't live off pizza and instant shit all your life, you know. At least try to eat something else and not the same every day." He didn't have to turn to know that his friend was sticking his tongue out at him and rolling his eyes. Since they worked in the same department of the same office, they spent every day together, deepening the bond of friendship they were sharing even more. Hence Zoro could predict most of Luffy's reactions and plans, as well as the opposite around, a fact neither of them wanted to miss again.

* * *

Two years earlier

_"Ouch, you idiot, get off me!" she hissed, trying to shove off the body lying on top of her. It had gotten heavy on her ribcage and she was in dear need to fill her lungs with oxygen, not to mention the ache in her bones she wanted to examine further. But her attempts of heaving the body off herself were useless and so she tried to prop herself up on her palms to look who exactly it was. _

"_Oh god, Luffy!" she gasped and tried to wake him up by shaking his limp body. His hair was wet and messy, he had probably been underwater for too long and was now... unconscious. At least she hoped so, she didn't know what to do if her captain died on her. Hastily she looked around but there were only trees surrounding them, no hint of any other living soul who could help her. "Come on, wake up, please...," she begged, tears were brimming in her eyes as she tried again and again to get some life into him. _

_When he finally groaned and shifted, relief got the better of her and she leaned down to hug him as best as she could. "You're alive!" she beamed and kissed his cheek, tears slipping from her eyes. _

"_Wh-what happened?" Luffy whispered while getting himself into a sitting position and looked at his friend. Her ginger hair was a complete wet mess, some strands were sticking to her face, neck and even down to her torn blouse. Her skin was covered in bruises and scratches which were just a reminder of what had happened to them. Silently he got onto his shaking legs, ignoring the stinging in his head and limbs, and got out of his sweater that was not as screwed up as Nami's blouse. "Here, cover up..." He threw it down to her before turning around and examining their surroundings. _

_Trees, everywhere. Slowly he remembered why they were here, how they had gotten into a terrible cyclone and the next thing he remembered was waking up on a shore with Nami lying unconscious next to him. With the remaining strength he had left he had carried her into the close woods to get away from the waves crashing against the shore to recover before looking for the rest of his crew. Wherever they might be. _

"_I think we should look for some hill or such to get a better impression of where we are," Nami spoke up and reached for her captain's straw hat. It had holes all over, straws were sharply poking out at the edges but nothing she couldn't fix once they would be back on the Sunny. _

"_Yeah, I guess you're right...," Luffy agreed, his voice low and emotionless. Back on the shore he hadn't had much time to look for his nakama, the waves were dangerous and he had had to save Nami but from what he had seen looking over his shoulder, they had been all alone. _

"_Ouch! Fuck," Nami cursed, biting down on her bottom lip and holding onto her ankle. She had tried to get up as well but only shifting her foot had sent a hot pain through her leg. _

_Luffy turned around and knelt down in front of her, a worried expression on his face, "What's wrong?" His gaze fell onto her ankle that seemed to bother her and reached out to hold it gently. Carefully he moved her foot into several directions to see what exactly hurt and concluded, "It's sprained." He started massaging it gently like he had seen Chopper do so many times whenever any of them had sprained their ankles. "I think we need a doctor... soon. Let's go." _

* * *

With a loud thud, the drawer fell shut and Zoro jumped a little at the sound. He had expected Sanji to freak out but the way he would freak out was never the same. The cook was slamming all doors and drawers, shooting evil glares at him and otherwise ignoring him while the treatment Luffy received was the sweetest and kindest Sanji had to offer.

"Oh come on, Sanji, don't be so hard on Zoro. He's allowed to have some fun from time to time and just be glad he doesn't ignore your rules and smokes in the house," their younger friend pointed out with an amused smile. He and Zoro were sitting at the kitchen table playing cards, a habit they hadn't been able to drop so far.

"So? He could be more supportive! The smoke sticking to his clothes makes me want to start again but I better don't," Sanji rambled, his hands working fast on chopping vegetables, "I can't lose my job but with him smelling of cigarettes, it's harder not to smoke again and my boss would freak out if he found out I started smoking again!"

"And that's fine with me. If you need me to stop, I will." The words came out of Zoro's mouth with such a certainty that for a moment Sanji thought his friend was pulling a prank on him. They silently shared a look, Sanji was searching for a hint of joke in his roommate's eyes but there was nothing but honesty.

"Wow, guys, what's wrong with you. First Sanji makes you smoke and now he makes you stop. What happened to my ever fighting friends," Luffy chuckled lightly and took a sip of his soda. Ever since the two of them had moved together, they had been fighting less, mostly because Zoro gave in whenever Sanji threw a fit about something.

Quietly Sanji turned back around towards his tomatoes and tried to wrap his mind around Zoro's words. Why would he give up on something that proved his freedom only because it bothered him, Sanji? Even though they were getting along pretty well lately, he couldn't say they were best friends. Maybe it was a kind of show for Luffy or just one of Zoro's attempts to end this dispute by giving in? Whatever, Sanji couldn't believe that Zoro's intention was to make things easier for him, they weren't close enough to give up freedom of choice for each other. Not in this life.

"Hey, guys, I've decided that it was nice of me to let you decide who should be my best man," Luffy spoke up bluntly and out of the blue, he knew too well what catastrophe he had just started. The two of them would fight over it for days and he would just watch until Nami would take that burden upon her and asked one of her friends' husbands to be his best man.

"Leave that up to me, that shitty cook can't serve food and fill in such an honorable position at the same time," Zoro smirked and sipped on his beer. He didn't need to turn to know that Sanji was shooting him a death glare over his shoulder.

"That sounds fair. I want you both to play a greater role in this so I need to settle some things before Nami does," Luffy continued with a frown on his face as he tried to figure out which card to play next. It was their fourth match today, the fourth one he was about to lose.

"I met her the other day at the flower shop," Sanji finally spoke again, his back still turned towards his friends, "She had a bottomless list of arrangements to do so she was in a bit of a rush but I could get a hunch of that list. Either someone knocks some sense into that girl or we need to find some strategy to trick her or otherwise you won't be happy that day."

"Coming from you," Zoro snickered and played out the winning card. It didn't matter now anymore, Luffy's attention was now in Sanji's hands anyway.

The blonde cook scolded his roommate with another glare before adding, "She's aiming for more than 500 guests. The ceremony will happen in that huge castle outside of town and she said she wanted to rent it for a whole week so the guests from farther away could stay over there. And the catering will be hosted by the castle's restaurant so apparently I'm out of the game.

They were silent for a moment, Zoro and Luffy stared at each other in shock and mouths gaping open. How could Nami plan all that behind Luffy's back and even exclude his closest friends from contributing? "W-wow, I... gotta talk to her. I can't believe she makes plans without me and... what the hell, I don't know how to pay all that... no, I gotta talk to her," Luffy rambled, got to his feet and left the kitchen for the backyard to call his fiancée.

With a sigh Zoro watched Luffy for a while, he was in full rage now judging from his facial expression and the wild gesturing. It wasn't by far the first time that Nami spent his money without asking him, it wouldn't be the first time Luffy would crash at their place for a while and not the only time he would run into debt. They really needed to find a way to 'knock some sense into her' how Sanji had put it so wisely, or things would end up in a great disaster.

After a while he parted his gaze from the younger man who by now was standing on the little bridge of their pond, still fighting with his fiancée. "You're upset about it, aren't you? That she didn't think of you," he spoke softly to the cook's back. The way Sanji tensed up, his breaths becoming sharper and with what strength he chopped the carrots couldn't hide the feeling that was taking ahold of him. A strangled sob sounded from his lips, Zoro knew he was biting on his bottom lip to force himself quiet but he wouldn't be successful, as usual.

About a year and a half ago they had given up on the search of their friends and decided to settle down, maybe it was wiser to be a part of the society if they wanted to survive and that way they could gather more information that could help to find their crewmates. Ever since then, Sanji's mood had darkened and from week to week his outbursts or breakdowns had multiplied. It was partly why Zoro had decided to move together with him, for one to stay together and also to comfort the other man who, how they had figured out pretty quickly, was damn frightened to lose any more of them. The tragic accident from two years ago had torn him apart so much that when Zoro and he had met again three days after it, Sanji had been clinging onto him for a whole night. He was broken and the only thing that had calmed him down was the search and hope to get their friends back - alive. But when they decided to stop to search actively, it was like giving up to Sanji, as if admitting that their friends were dead. And so it happened that behind closed doors Sanji would let his tears fall, he had long given up on fighting his depressions and fears of losing but never gave up on hiding it from the few friends he had left.

That was until one night, they had just moved together the week before and Zoro had come home from work later than expected. His cell phone's battery had died during the last hours and so he hadn't called home to let Sanji know; back then he had figured that he didn't need to report to anyone, especially not to the shitty cook like he was his legal guardian. But that night had changed everything between them, softened them up and brought them closer as friends. When Zoro had come home past midnight, Sanji had still been in the kitchen at the table, and the sight of misery sitting there had felt like a kick in the guts. There had been several bottles of alcohol in front of him, starting from simple wine to rum, and an ashtray full of cigarettes but what had slapped Zoro awake where the tears streaming down the cook's face, the sobs leaving his throat and the look of pure agony. From that day on, he made sure to inform the other man over any change of plans and his whereabouts, to prevent that night from repeating itself.

"Hey," Zoro spoke in the same gentle tone as he got up from his chair and walked around the kitchen island towards Sanji. Each step made the blonde tense up even more but he knew that Sanji only tried to stand his man and act strong, when deep inside he was breaking all over again. Carefully Zoro rested his hand on the blonde's shoulder and turned him around, his face was covered in silent tears that were still dripping down his chin and turned into loud sobs when Zoro pulled him into a hug. "Don't let her make you cry. It's enough that she's ruining Luffy's life, there's no reason for you to let her do the same to you, Sanji. And I'm sure Luffy can make her change her mind at least for the catering."

"That wouldn't change a thing," Sanji pressed out between swallowed sobs and tears, "She doesn't care about me anymore, or you. She wouldn't have even said hello to me, Zoro, she only talked to me because I didn't let her walk away on me so easily. What if they break up... Luffy should give into her demands or we'll fall apart again and I... I can't have that happen, Zoro, I can't lose anyone anymore... don't let that happen..." His hands fisted the older man's chemise as he nuzzled his wet face into his shoulder and fully gave into the sobbing.

"Don't even think about it, we will not fall apart again and you will not lose anyone again, I can give you that promise, and so does Luffy," Zoro pointed out in a firm voice that chased away some of Sanji's fears. Latter looked up to his old nakama with a small smile to show how grateful he was for his comfort. "Maybe you should confront Nami with your feelings, maybe that could knock some sense into her."

Sanji smirked at the choice of words, "You won't stop repeating me, will you?" It was a rhetorical question since he knew that Zoro loved the truth of those words way too much to just forget about them.

"Nope, I couldn't have said it better," the green-haired man grinned at his friend in delight.

"No! For God's sake, Nami, you can't just plan our wedding behind my back!" It didn't take long for them to be fully engulfed in a serious fight, the ginger-haired girl had always been well tempered but since Luffy had accepted the job at the department for animal and human rights of the government, Nami had her head in the clouds.

_"As if you had any idea of how to plan a wedding. Someone has to do it after all and since you rather spend your free time smoking shit with Zoro, it's my duty to make sure we'll have the perfect wedding that everyone expects from a man of your position."_

"Can you for once forget about 'my position'? I don't earn enough money that I could pay for our house, your clothes, your stylist, your car, your journeys, your whatever else unnecessary shit you buy AND ALSO pay for a whole castle, for AN ENTIRE WEEK! And what about the food, I thought it was clear that Sanji would take care of that, why pay for the castle's cooks?" He was slowly really losing patience with his fiancée, and somehow it had gotten harder to point out all the reasons why marrying her was the best solution.

_"Why? Because you don't rent a castle for a wedding without the matching servants, that's why! What would people think of us, of you? That would look like you couldn't afford the whole cake."_

"THAT'S BECAUSE I CAN'T!" he yelled into the phone so loudly that some birds in the nearby apple tree flew off in panic. The line became silent for a minute until Luffy could hear her swallow hard, apparently trying to stand her ground. It didn't matter, knowing that he had made her cry broke his will anyway and so he added in a calm voice, "Listen, we'll talk about it when I'm home. I'm not at all happy about your plans, Nami, and if there's one thing I will contribute to this wedding then it's my best friend as our cook." He turned to look over to the back door and immediately felt his mood drop even lower. "Who by the way is very upset about your decision."

* * *

_"Man, I'm hungry," Luffy whined as he was dragging himself and Nami on his back over the street. They had finally found an exit to the forest and landed on some road that led to an unknown destination but Nami had concluded that any road along the coast would lead to some sort of civilization. _

_"I think you'll need to stay hungry till we found the others. We don't even have any money to buy food... we can only hope to find a nice village and ask for help there," Nami sighed and brushed through her captain's black hair. The strawhat was resting on her head so she wouldn't crush it even more while Luffy was carrying her on his back. "I wish there'll be some people at all... in case we won't find anyone till dawn, we should camp somewhere in the woods and try to get back to the Sunny tomorrow. I'm sure they're all waiting for us already..."_

_"Mh, yeah, I'm sure...," Luffy hummed without any determination. The chances of them waiting on the ship for them was slim to none and he was aware that Nami thought the same way but obviously she tried to stay calm by imagining the impossible. He wouldn't stop her._

_They wandered along the streets for another two days, nurturing themselves of any vegetables and fruits they found in the woods, or fish they caught with bare hands in the river. By the time they reached the first indicator for human life on this island, Nami had caught a flu and her ankle was screwed up to say the least, she threatened to lose consciousness all the time and it made Luffy feel even more helpless and alone. _

_The first house they reached was a small farm with cows outside, a few corn fields were set to each side of the estate. People lived there and Luffy was so relieved about this fact that he almost broke down himself but rather forced himself to walk the last few meters up to the front door and knock. An old lady opened in confusion but let them in as soon as she noticed the dangerous state Nami was in. _

_They were a kind couple, in their mid-60's, both had dedicated their lives to field work and livestock and bought this little place far off the busting and angry city. Because the next proper town was an hour drive away, they needed to sell half of their harvest to the companies in the big cities to pay for a car and even survive. The government knew how to make them dependent on society, the old man told Luffy one day over a cup of strong coffee, "They take whatever they need to break you, even if it's your own flesh and blood."_

_While Nami was recovering from her flu, Luffy helped the old couple on the fields and delivering. They had no money to pay any medical help for Nami, let alone food and so he thought the only way was to work for that. The old couple was so grateful for his help and for Nami's weather predictions that they let them stay for a whole month and even provided them with some money and a bike when they set off towards the city. _

_Some sellers from town had talked about some strangers starting a ruckus in the middle of the street, one of them had green hair and swords and the other was blonde and dressed in a suit, so they both thought they would be able to find at least Sanji and Zoro which was better than nothing. Maybe they were already with the rest or knew where they were so they could all get back together. Hopefully._

* * *

As usual the house was quiet and empty, with Luffy the cheerful mood left as well. During dinner they hadn't spoken a word, safe from the casual 'pass me this', or some work specific topics Zoro and Luffy needed to settle. It was different from always, it was a strange mood to Sanji and it made him feel sicker with each bite he forced down his throat. After dinner he had emptied everything into the toilet and scolded himself afterwards for wasting the good food, a downward spiral he had been caught in for months now.

Dressed in his pajamas he joined Zoro watching TV in the living-room, they had come to this habit ever since that night when Sanji had broken down in the swordsman's arms. He walked over to the wall cabinet, pulled out two glasses and a bottle of wine and settled into the armchair at the head of the coffee table, the perfect angle to watch TV.

"Uhm, Luffy and I have a job to do tomorrow, some guy in the forest wants to open up an inn with some animal shelter stuff so we'll be out the next few days. I could be home any time of the day, so don't plan anything big, okay? I'll call you each time I know when I'll be home," Zoro spoke up and looked from the newspapers over to Sanji filling their glasses.

"Alright, I'll use the time to work in the yard," Sanji smiled quickly at Zoro and turned back to the TV. "An inn with an animal shelter? How's that supposed to work?"

"No idea, that's why we have to go an check. Obviously that guy made a request at the building inspection office and labor inspectorate and they contacted us to go and check. I hope we'll receive the papers tomorrow, I hate showing up somewhere without any background information," Zoro grumbled and dropped the newspaper onto the coffee table.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure you'll be successful. The two of you are the best in your business after all," Sanji pointed out with a huge grin, hovering over the edge of the wine glass. Their job was to make sure that anyone who wanted to found an organization, build up an animal shelter or do anything involving animals, humans and nature, respected the rights of each living being. Most of the time they received hints from either anonymous people or other governmental departments to check out a place which mostly happen to be animal shelters run by people who cared more about money than animals.

It was rare that their jobs were different from that. But sometimes they would get involved into a big deal that even ended up in the local newspapers and TV news. Their biggest success was an illegal institution that experimented with drugs and medicine on human beings who they'd violently kidnap. Both had gotten a promotion and a better paycheck and even some medal, not to mention the fame and gratefulness of the victims they had rescued. Sanji was proud of them and never missed a chance to tell them so.

"Thanks," Zoro smiled at him and reached for his own glass to take a sip. They fell into a comfortable silence, they focused on the TV screen that was showing some comedy action movie of low quality but it was enough to relax and get distracted from the events of the day.

The house was dark when Luffy returned home, he was greeted by cold and uncomfortable silence. After getting out of his coat and shoes, he put on his slippers and stepped into the living-room. It was empty, not that he had expected Nami to be there when they needed to talk. That woman had made up her mind already and wouldn't have anyone talk her into changing it, not even him.

To his surprise, the huge Japanese lanterns on the porch were shining into their library, proof enough that Nami was indeed home. With a warm smile he approached the huge French arch doors leading outside; the sight he found there on the porch was just too beautiful. His fiancée was sitting in one of the wicker chairs, one leg crossed over the other, a white dress loosely hugging her body and her hair was messily tied at the back. The colorful, dim light from the lanterns made her skin glow in their shine, as if she was an angel, an ironical image Luffy thought.

"Hey there," he greeted her softly and settled into the chair next to her. They never kissed, barely even hugged each other, the only times they had physical contact where at public parties since the only people who knew about their true relationship were Sanji and Zoro.

She looked up from her book, glared at him for a moment before closing it and placing it on the table in front of her. "I feel honored that you came home after all," she coolly said without looking at him but instead looking deeply into her glass of champagne.

Sighing heavily, he brushed through his hair and looked up into the dark night sky. "I know you're mad and I'm pretty sure you have the right to be... in some way but I... I needed to cool down before coming back home," he explained; he shouldn't feel the need to justify himself.

"I didn't expect you to care. You know, sometimes it would be nice to have you here and not there... they're getting along on their own," Nami shot back, her voice felt like ice cubes running down his spine. "That idiot of a cook can't be trusted anyway, he was supposed to keep it secret."

The comment made Luffy blink at her in mock shock. Now she blamed it all on Sanji? And what did she think, it made things better if he had kept it secret? "Do you even understand how upset he was? You know that he's going through a rough time, he needs us, he needs us to need him and what do you do? Push him away! He was so happy about the wedding and happy that he could make the food for us because that's what he's been doing for years! And actually, I would be proud to have the best cook in the world for our wedding!"

"So you asked him without talking about it with me? How mature," Nami scoffed and folded her arms in front of her breasts, a strand of hair fell into her decollete. Since they had moved together Luffy couldn't help but observe her, take in her beauty each and every day and at some point, he had fallen a little for her. If only for those moments when she was the same Nami he had rescued from Arlong, the nakama he had trusted his life with, the girl who'd slap him and Usopp whenever they played hide and seek on deck, the young woman with the dream of drawing a world map. Those moments were rare, he hadn't seen her drawing any maps in a while neither talking about their friends and their dreams. But sometimes he would find her in the library, reading books about the islands of the Grand Line they had visited, in those moments he caught himself falling in love with her.

Her reaction was enough for him to get up from his chair and turn to leave. They wouldn't get anywhere with her temper today so he'd better retreat to bed, he had a long day at work ahead. "I see we can't talk about this calmly. I go to bed, good night," he sighed and turned to offer her a small smile before heading back inside.

After a long shower Luffy was finally able to calm down and forget about their fight, so he decided on some funny movie and a bowl of popcorn in his bedroom to end the day. They weren't (even) sharing a bedroom, something he treasured in situations like these. For one he was glad to have some place in this house that only belonged to him, and also he was picky about his sleep, he was convinced that if they'd sleep in the same bed, she would keep the fight on and on until she would fall asleep from exhaustion. There was nothing more relieving than to shut the door and drown her loud screaming out.

One of the things he didn't want to ever miss in his life was his TV. He had come to realize that watching TV was quite distracting and helpful to relax after a stressful day of dealing with Nami's temper and work, which was why snuggling up into his bed in front of the TV had become a daily routine. There were only a few things he rather did and that involved everything with Sanji and Zoro, preferably at their place. Usually they would meet at their place, even though Luffy had a bigger TV and a greater collection of movies and video games, they never stayed over at his place because of the bad relationship between Nami and Zoro. Put them into a room and after an hour there'd be at least one dead body.

A soft knock interrupted his train of thoughts, followed by the door handle being pushed down and the door shoved open a few inches. Nami stuck her head into his room, searching for him in the huge, messy bedroom before settling onto his surprised expression with a look of insecurity. She didn't wait for his permission to come in, in an instant she had slipped into the room, closed the door behind her and tiptoed over to the empty side of his bed, to settle down next to him like she hadn't done anything else the past years. Something was up, he could tell that from the look in her eyes, the way she moved and her body shivered and when she leaned against him, he couldn't hold himself back. "You're strange," he chuckled and turned back to the TV.

Frowning she looked at her partner and countered back, "Strange for wanting to cuddle with my fiancé? I thought that's why we have each other."

"Since when?" he asked in a firm voice, his eyes never leaving the TV screen.

"Luffy, I'm sorry... please don't be mad at me," the red-haired woman pleaded, her hand reached for his, tangling their fingers together.

His gaze fell down on their hands, it was a gesture he had been missing the past years particularly from her. With a smile he squeezed her hand gently and kissed her head softly before leaning his own against it. "Just let me have a say in this as well, okay? I want you to have a perfect day and I'm willing to try to earn more money but I can tell you already that you can forget about that castle," he tried to soothe her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders to keep her close. "And how come we need to invite 500 people? I thought we'd invite our closest friends and family and that would be about it."

"I just thought that... you have so many co-workers and other important people and the more the merrier," Nami justified her plans, she snuggled up to him completely, now leaning her head against his neck. "And it's not that I don't want Sanji to be part of our wedding... of course I do, and I actually planned on Zoro being your best man but I... I think I got carried away with the situation. The girls at the book club told me so much about the castle and how all of them wished their wedding would've taken place there so I... I wanted to impress them..."

"Oh Nami, I don't even like most of my co-workers. And a wedding is a family event for me, I only want the people who're important to me to be there... well, in case they can come. I thought we could find a way so Nojiko could come, and Vivi and Carue... and I could try to reach Ace but I don't have any hope," Luffy laughed and scratched the back of his neck.

"I bet he would be here right away. He can't miss to see his little brother getting married, can he," Nami chuckled and picked a piece of popcorn out of the bowl just to hold it before Luffy's lips who didn't hesitate to let her feed him. It was a great relief that he didn't throw her out and even let her cuddle him, like they were _supposed_ to. "You know... I would be happier if you'd at least come home for dinner. Or we go out for dinner together... I only want to spend some time with you. I know I'm bitchy and whatever Zoro says about me is right I guess but... we're getting married soon and I don't want our marriage to be hell."

"Nice thinking but don't we have to be in love for that," Luffy pointed out in his famous blunt manner and popped one of the corn snacks into his mouth while facing the TV.

At first Nami just blinked at him but her surprise soon turned into disappointment and anger. She pushed his hand away, freed herself of his hold and slid of the bed to stomp out of the room, throwing the door shut with a loud bang. With a sigh Luffy watched her go, he couldn't stop her anyway and to be honest, he had no intention to run after her. If she was serious about them, she'd get back to him, no matter what she felt about him, he was right. They were no couple at all, it was just some sort of contract to somehow make it in this world and stay together, no strings attached. No love attached.


	2. Chapter 2

_The wind was blowing through his hair, tickling his nose and cheeks till he finally awoke and moved to brush the annoying strands out of his face. A stinging pain shot through his arm, from his wrist up to his shoulder and he howled out, he clenched his elbow and bit his bottom lip to will his tears away. Slowly the pain subsided but he didn't dare to move an inch, his knees pulled up to his chest._

_A faint voice reached his ears, coming closer and closer, a familiar voice was calling his name over and over again and he heard footsteps on dry ground approaching him in a fast pace. It was Usopp who fell down to his knees in front of him, his voice sounded of panic and helplessness, "Sanji, what's wrong? Are you in pain? What hurts?"_

_Someone else knelt down behind him, when he spoke Sanji felt himself relaxing even more. "Looks like his arm is broken," the voice of Zoro reached his ears and he nodded in response, still biting down on his lip to force the pain away. _

"_I might have some bandages in my bag, wait a second." With half-lid eyes Sanji watched Usopp rummaging through his large bag that seemed to have taken a lot of damage from the accident. The accident... they had gotten into a severe storm and lost control over the ship, the waves had practically swallowed the Sunny whole like a giant snake. _

_Alarmed he turned to look at Zoro, opened his mouth to ask about Nami and Robin but froze when he saw the bruises and cuts all over his face, still a small smile lingered in the corners of his lips. Sanji swallowed, he couldn't tear his eyes away, it was always strange and surreal to see someone as strong as Zoro wounded and defeated. While Usopp was working on aiding his arm, he tried to calm down and just watched the sniper following the instructions he had once learned from Chopper. _

"_Your arm will be back to normal in no time," Zoro suddenly spoke, a soft and soothing tone Sanji wasn't familiar with. "...once we're back on the Sunny." _

"_Let's hope we'll find it. Wherever we are, it's not where we got caught in the storm. I just hope the others are alright," Usopp said and crushed all the hopes Zoro had gotten up for Sanji. _

"_It's just the three of us?" the blonde asked, looking from his curly-haired friend to Zoro who nodded in reply. _

"_We didn't see anyone else yet but this area is flat without any trees so from looking around... we're all alone. But Usopp noticed some sort of village a few miles ahead, maybe we'll find a doctor there," the marimo smiled gently and brushed a few damp strands of green hair out of his face. _

"_For you too, Zoro, you shouldn't take those wounds too easily," Usopp frowned and put his supplies back into his bag, then helped Sanji getting onto his feet. _

_The sun was shining mercilessly down on them, it must be lunch time judging from her position but none of them had the mind to be hungry now. After a short conversation of where to go next, they set off into the direction of the town Usopp had found earlier. Maybe they could crash there for the night and have the townspeople help them to find their nakama and ship, or maybe they were just running into a pointed blade. If Nami was here, she surely knew what to do, Sanji thought, maybe she had studied a map back on the ship and knew a little about this island. Hopefully she was fine, wherever she was. _

_By the time they reached the outskirts of the town, it was already getting dark and colder. Their clothes had luckily dried in the burning hot sun but Sanji still found himself freezing in the thin fabric of his dress shirt and jacket. The wind was blowing through his clothes, chilling him to the bone and he couldn't help but shiver at each and every breeze. If they wouldn't find a place to crash over night, they'd end up with flu and pneumonia for sure, nothing he was looking forward to. Luckily they had a little money so chances were they could pay for a room at least for tonight. And hopefully some food, he knew the eating schedules of his nakama by heart and they would need something within the next hour. _

_He was fumbling with his crushed pack of cigarettes, with one hand it was almost impossible to get one functional cigarette out of the box but there was no other option and he'd better gotten used to it, his broken arm wouldn't heal overnight. When he finally got hold of one still intact cigarette, he unfortunately dropped it along with the pack and groaned in despair. It led to nothing, neither to him getting a smoke nor to anything at all, and by now he was already a few feet behind the other two only because he was failing at pulling out a cigarette with one healthy hand._

_After leaning down to pick his belongings up, brushing the dust off them with his shirt, he called, "Hey, marimo, can you help me?" Both halted at his words and turned, Usopp wearing an expression somewhere between pity and sympathy, neither of them were gestures he wanted. _

_Wordlessly Zoro walked over to him, his expressionless face only sublimed by his dark eyes that wore no hints of any emotion. That was why he had asked him, even though he knew the marimo was having his thoughts about his helplessness and incapability of using his hands, he would never show or say what he truly thought. Well, not in such situations at least. _

"_Could you-" Sanji started but it was useless to tell him what to do; by the time he had spoken the second word, Zoro had pulled out the intact cigarette and pushed it between the cook's lips. One of his hands reached into his dress pants' pockets, exactly the one where he was keeping his lighter, and pulled it out to lighten up the cigarette for him. With wide eyes the blonde watched Zoro smirk at him before turning around and walking back up to Usopp who only shook his head with a smile and started walking again. _

_Pitch-black darkness had laid itself upon the city once they reached it. The streets were quiet and empty, stores shut down and doors locked behind bars, only from afar they could hear noise, probably coming from the town's heart. Where were they supposed to go? How were they supposed to orientate themselves in these empty, soulless streets? The sheer fact that they had no clue how to get back to the Sunny, where their friends where, if any of them were still alive, that his arm was broken and they had nothing but three swords, some medical supplies and around 200 berry, made it hard for Sanji not to panic. He knew that they had been in situations like these before, even in worse situations, but something was off and something was off to the point where he had the feeling that something bad would happen. That it was something, they wouldn't get out of so easily. And his incapability to fight was only making him feel worse._

"_Oh, shit," Zoro suddenly said, causing Sanji to stop his train of panicky thoughts only to get replaced by a similar feeling. They had run into a group of people armed with guns and knives, obviously caught in some sort of fight. And now they were right in the middle of them, three against about twenty armed and masked guys, or rather one and a half against twenty, since Usopp was a coward and he himself was unable to balance himself with a broken arm. _

_Usually they wouldn't mind a chance like this, it was a good training for them, at least for Sanji and Zoro. But right now was the worst of all moments for any of that to happen, they needed to find another way out of this situation even though it seemed rather hopeless as the group of people were closing them in and pointing their weapons at them ready to-_

Sanji jolted awake in his bed. His heart was beating out of his chest, strands of hair stuck to his neck and face, mirroring his pajama. The room around him was dark, thick and bottomless darkness was holding him in a tight grasp and he felt sick with panic. Was he really awake? Was he safe in his bed? A shiver ran down his spine and he started out trembling, out of fear, out of cold. Instead of trying to reach for the lamp on his nightstand, he hugged himself, he didn't dare to move in case he was still caught in his head.

That dream again, or rather, that memory again. After two years he hadn't been able to push it out of his head or at least drown it out, he would still randomly dream about it and wake up in panic. That night, he would never be able to forget what had happened, he would never be able to get rid of the pictures in his head and the knowledge of what had happened the day after. Everything had fallen apart even more, _they _had fallen apart then and not to mention himself, he had fallen apart into tiny little pieces.

No, no, he didn't want to remember, he didn't want to relive it again and again. A dry sob erupted from his throat and he desperately nuzzled his face into his palms, he tried to silence himself but the tears would only provoke louder sobs. In his agony he fisted his hair as if to rip it off, bit down on his bottom lip until the first layer of skin tore and a thin drop of blood pooled on top. He needed to get out, out of this emotion and out of himself, it made him feel like drowning, and he knew this feeling too much.

The images wouldn't fade; the blood, he could still feel it on his hands, he could still hear the cries, his cries, his panic rising until he couldn't breathe any longer. And he couldn't now either, his sobs seemed to simply stay in his throat creating a lump that crawled up the insides of his neck. His eyes shot wide open again and he clapped a hand over his mouth, he knew where this was leading and he had to prevent any mess from happening.

On shaky legs he got onto his feet and staggered over to where he thought the door was, hastily grabbed the handle and almost fell through the open door into the dim-lit corridor. His vision was blurry still, fresh tears were making it harder for him to clear it but he knew the way to the bathroom by heart now. This was his home, after all, he was finally realizing it. He was home, not caught in that ugly dream or the past. Where he was now was a place he was safe. It almost calmed him down, at least preventing new tears from rolling down his cheeks but it wouldn't help him swallow the lump in his throat.

He tried his best to be quiet, he didn't know if Zoro was still downstairs watching TV or already in bed. In any way, he didn't want to draw his attention onto him, he hated it to make his nakama worry. Particularly Zoro. However when he opened the door to the bathroom, he couldn't hold on any longer and stumbled through the doorway, switched on the light, throwing over the hamper in his way, and fell down on his knees in front of the toilette. In the last minute he was able to pull up the lid before the snacks from earlier made their way out of his system.

When everything was safely outside of his body, he reached up to flush and fell back onto the cold tiled floor. He closed his eyes for a brief moment but opened them quickly after, he didn't like the dark and he didn't like it when his head was spinning and both simultaneously were something he dreaded. His eyes roamed through the room, the neatly picked furniture, all a creamy white tone with wicker and wooden baskets and chairs, shelves and wall units. Nothing spectacular, maybe the huge wall mirror with the silver and golden ornamental frame that Sanji had been allowed to pick, but all in all it resembled the style of the rest of their house; comfortable but simple.

Safe for the floor. Smiling he let his hand trace over the lines of the little flowers carved into the marble, they were subtle, just a different shade than the marble itself. He could still recall how he had come home from a stressful and depressing day at work and found their bathroom completely done, everything put at the spots they had planned before, the flower pots on the window sill standing exactly where he would've put them. But what really had brightened up his day had been the floor. Days before they had been in some old man's store, looking at tiles, most of them too expensive for them and especially to be a bathroom's flooring. They had almost made their minds up to take a cheap marble imitation, when the old man had showed them a tile of pure and valuable handmade, out of beige marble with a gentle yet minimalistic flower pattern. Back there, Sanji had recognized it immediately; it was the most expensive marble in the whole world, original North Blue marble.

Like now, he had been tracing along the carved lines of the typical palm like leaves, swirling into another almost playfully but not too kitschy. They had decided against them though, they were too valuable for a stupid bathroom floor anyway and after all, they hadn't planned to stay in this country for long anyway, they had just needed _some_ floor in their first storey bathroom. But when he had gotten home that day, the bathroom floor had been covered in those beautiful tiles and Zoro had been standing in the doorway, smiling the warmest and broadest smile he had ever seen on the swordsman's face.

So naturally, he spent a lot of time in between those walls, taking long baths in the huge tub whenever he had the time to. He had decided to have Franky take them out and apply them to the Sunny's bathroom floor, for one he didn't want to live without them again, and most of all: Zoro had spent money on them, for _him_.

By the time he felt thirsty, and freezing to the point where his teeth were clapping together, he had almost been lying there for half an hour, lost in memories and emotions. Still weak in his knees, he forced himself into a standing position to be able to brush his teeth before heading down and get a glass of water and some fresh air. It was just his luck that he could sleep in tomorrow and wouldn't have to deal with his stressed out boss. No matter how much he loved cooking and working in the restaurant, he hated being there. His co-workers were quite nice but they mostly minded their own business, the waiters were friendly but he never got in touch with them and the chef practically lived for every chance to blacken him. Hence he had stopped smoking, the restaurant's owner hated people who did and people who smelled like it, and so only smoking when he wasn't at work, was no option either. And he missed smoking like he missed inhaling the ocean's scent, like he missed the feel of the rough wooden planks of the Sunny, like he missed the nights in the Crow's Nest, like he missed his nakama, his family. Even though he was living with one, even though he had three of them by his side, it wasn't the same, they weren't the same people they used to be. And who were they anyway, when they weren't with their beloved ship?

The floor in kitchen was cooler on the ball of his feet than the bathroom tiles, he felt another shiver running down his spine while he tiptoed over to the cupboard with the glass cups and retrieved a bottle of mineral water from the cabinet. He leaned against the counter for balance, he wasn't sure he would be able to sit on the stools at the kitchen island, he still felt so dizzy and weak. His hands clenched around the cup, he had accidentally caught one of their rather expensive whiskey glasses but a little bit of healthy water wouldn't taint them, he figured. The cool and pure liquid calmed his throat and senses after one gulp, he even had to chuckle when the carbonic acid tickled his pharynx. For distraction he settled his gaze on the bottle's sleeve, it insisted that the source of the water was as natural as water could be, coming from the richest and purest rivers in the mountains. Kind of stupid, since water was still water, but people who spent 10 berry on a bottle of one of these at least expected the company to put a nice lie on the sleeve.

Thinking about it, their lifestyle was rather expensive or at least wealthy. That although it was mostly Zoro who brought money home, who paid the rent for the house, who paid the car, who had paid their alterations of the interior and the exterior, and all he did was filling the fridge with the food he bought from poor farmers. It wasn't expensive food but it was good and it was quality and he didn't trust those weird supermarket-thing-shops, they were one of those things in this country that he couldn't quite warm up to.

A shuffling noise reached his ears and he swirled around, almost falling over but his reflexes were quick to reach for the countertop. His eyes fixed on the sleepy face of Zoro, his hair tousled and his cheeks still flushed from sleep. The sight triggered the old feeling of guilt inside of Sanji, he must've been too loud reeling down the stairs and that had woken Zoro up who really needed his sleep for work.

"I-I'm sorry for waking you up, go back to sleep, I'm... fine," Sanji forced out, smiling weakly at the silent marimo. His eyelids were threatening to fall shut again as he walked over to him, he only cracked one eye open to frown at Sanji, making it obvious that he wasn't convinced.

Gently smiling Zoro fixed himself a glass of water and leaned on his side against the counter to look at his friend, "Nice try."

Sighing and dropping his shoulders, Sanji looked into his water and watched the bubbles float up to the surface and disappear with a sizzling sound. "I don't want you to waste away possible hours of sleep, you'll need it," he repeated without looking up.

"Can you stop that for once?" Zoro sighed with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "I don't know if you actually notice but you're having serious problems. You have those nightmare every other night, only the slightest bit of drama or stress makes you anxious and that makes you throw up almost every day. You have to see a doctor for this."

Sanji's head snapped up and his mouth gaped open, he was about to say something, counter back but the green-haired swordsman stopped him before he could even begin, "I know you only let Chopper check you up but he's not here and he wouldn't want you to wait and get sicker and sicker instead of seeing a doctor. Neither do I, neither does Luffy. Not even Nami. Promise me you will call in for an appointment tomorrow."

"I..." But there was no way he could make Zoro take that back, in that case he had no mercy and Sanji figured he should treasure that. Zoro was trying to help him, he wanted him to feel better and become his old self again, he shouldn't kick that with his feet. Defeated, he dropped his shoulders again along with his gaze; Zoro was right with everything.

"Don't worry, no one's gonna call you weak," the older man said softly and reached over to brush the long damp bangs out of Sanji's face, revealing his hidden eye. "Admitting that you're ill and that you need someone to help you to get better is actually very courageous and takes a lot of strength." Gently he pushed the strands behind the cook's ear even though a few would fall back in their place right away.

It made Sanji smile widely, a teary and honest smile that spread over his whole face. When had they become so... easy? What had made their nakamaship so simple, what had turned it into friendship? The strange circumstances? The accident? The events back in that bloody night that he didn't want to recall? It was hard to believe that their relationship had changed within one night from jumping at each other's throats to sacrificing nights of sleep to dry another's tears.

Blushing a little Sanji wrapped his bony fingers around Zoro's wrist to hold his hand there, he nuzzled his cheek into his palm and closed his eyes. Even then he could see Zoro in front of him, his bare scarred chest, the low riding pajama pants, the firm biceps, quite the opposite of himself. In his mind he went further, along his sides over his ribcage, the huge scar diagonally tainting his upper body with painful memories, yet it was a reminder of his dream. There was another scar, not as huge and not as old but it hurt Sanji even more than the one he had received from Mihawk. From his upper arm spreading over his shoulder towards his collarbone, he knew he could even feel how it created a white and long asperity on Zoro's skin if he only dared to touch it. But he hadn't touched it ever since that night and only knowing that it was there, tore his heart into pieces.

He hadn't noticed that he was crying until he felt the marimo's arms wrapping around him, like a warm and soft blanket. His glass was taken out of his limp hand, put down on the countertop beside him and the same hand brushed through his still damp from his sweat locks, combing them gently in a way that felt like a massage. It was almost impossible to imagine (about two years ago it had been impossible) that a rough and socially rather awkward man like Zoro was capable of calming one down like no other could. His caress was so gentle and careful, so skillful were his moves that Sanji wondered if he had been taking classes or just was this perfect at soothing people.

When his tears were slowly fading and his breathing turned back to normal, he felt Zoro lean closer to his ear, one hand was still caressing the hairline in his neck, the other arm was wrapped around his middle. "Do you feel like going back to sleep?" the swordsman whispered, his voice was so deep and soft that it sent comfortable shivers down the cook's spine.

Was he? He felt drained, exhausted and tired, his body was heavy from the lack of energy and he felt cold, every fiber of his body was craving for his bed but... he didn't want to be alone. His room would be silent and dark and so cold, he didn't want to go back in there yet; he was scared to fall back into the same nightmare and not being able to wake himself up in time. Shaking his head hesitantly, Sanji pushed himself off Zoro a bit to look at him, "I'll go and... watch some TV... or read. You can go back to sleep."

The frown on Zoro's face was firm and disbelieving, he had obviously expected a different answer. "You're tired, cook, no doubt," he said sternly and raised an eyebrow at him, "You should get some sleep as well, don't torture yourself." A soft sigh slipped over his lips when he leaned closer again and pulled Sanji back into a tight hug. "You're too complicated for me, shitty cook." One of his hands stroked the blonde's back in a gentle and circular motion, the kind of rhythm you couldn't resist but fall asleep to.

Soon it was unbearable and impossible to fight anymore, so Sanji gave into him and rested his head on the marimo's shoulder, his eyes fluttering shut and his lips curling into a soft smile. They remained like this for a while, one or two minutes but to Sanji, it felt like half of an eternity. "Come on, cook, let's go back to bed."

Warm rays of sunlight broke through the rich treetops, birds were loudly twittering in the sky above while squirrels ran from tree to tree to gather acorn. The morning was promising a nice and warm day, and if they wouldn't have to do hours, they could actually enjoy it out here in the woods. There was something mystical about this forest, during some stages of the day, giving it was late summer or fall, the sun would make the leaves of the trees appear golden, hence its name Aureus Forest.

The same occurrence happened today but Zoro wasn't sure they should feel lucky. His head was aching from the lack of sleep and past four hours of working through the files of the applicant for a hotel. It was only 10.30 in the morning, the early hours were sitting on their shoulders like barrels of sand and from the corner of his eye Zoro could watch Luffy catching himself each time he threatened to fall asleep. Obviously they both had had a tough night.

Since Sanji had been sleeping so peacefully beside him Zoro had no mind to wake him up for breakfast and decided to head off to work with just a cup of coffee in his system. Bad idea, he had noticed hours later and so they had decided to stop by their favorite bagel dealer and grab a bite before meeting up with the applicant. They were sitting in Luffy's car, chewing on their breakfast in silence and forcing themselves to stay awake which wasn't by far easy even with a liter of coffee.

"Why are we doing this job again?" the raven-haired captain asked and sighed around the piece of rissole in his mouth. "I should resign and apply for paperwork... they only have eight hour shifts and off on the weekends, that's like a dream."

"Yeah but they sit in front of the computer all day long reading through finances and correcting contracts. I rather get up at four in the morning and work till midnight to get some greasy old bastard behind bars for child labor. Better than living through hell of boredom in some office," Zoro pointed out and reached for his coffee.

"You got a point there," Luffy chuckled and pulled the bagel out of the paper bag, it was one with bacon and fried egg wrapped in silly pink paper. The shop belonged to a group of girls who figured pink was the key to a successful restaurant but lucky for them, their bagels were the best in town. Well, safe from Sanji's, of course.

The atmosphere between them was comfortable as usual, simple and without any tension, without having to fear that anything that could be said could ruin the day. "How did it go with Nami last night?" Zoro asked leaning back in his seat, he was done with his bag of bagels and satisfied for now.

Luffy had dreaded the question but knew he had to answer. "Well, we had a little bit of a fight when I came home. Apparently she's ashamed to have some unknown cook plan our catering who doesn't even have a valid certificate in this country, and then all this talk about my position and the people and impression and what not...," he told, pausing to take a sip of his coffee, "But she apologized afterwards and I guess we found common ground. She was pretty strange, like wanting to cuddle and giving in and stuff. But I guess I pissed her off when I said that we needed to be in love in order to be a real couple what people would expect and that we weren't... she stormed off and I haven't talked to her yet. No idea if she's home or at her friend's."

"Dude, can you be more dull?" Zoro grinned at his best friend in amusement. "She _does_ have the hots for you, even though she's tricking you into giving her all your money most of the time. That was like... a slap in the face for her, you know? I'm sure she had her hopes up somehow that you'd marry her out of love as well and then you shove the opposite into her face, that's pretty tough."

Considering his friend's words for a moment, Luffy fell silent and looked out of the window into the forest. "If she really wanted me for such reasons, then there was no need to get married. I don't even want to get married and be bonded to anyone but myself and the sea. If she wasn't so self-absorbed, we wouldn't need to go through all this because I wouldn't have to worry that she could run off to nowhere."

"I know, I can relate perfectly well, Luffy," Zoro sighed and rested the paper cup in his lap, his gaze resting on a spearow in a nearby tree. "I think there's no way how you could get out of this. She'd freak out if you took your proposal back... I mean you could get a divorce or just like, ignore the marriage once we're all back together and afloat but I fear she wouldn't let you get away so easily."

"I wouldn't even mind a relationship, you know? But why do we have to get married for that? And why the fuck couldn't she just stay put and act reasonable? Sometimes I wonder if she even wants to go back," Luffy burst out angrily, his hunger pushed aside. He wrapped the half-finished bagel back into its paper, dropped it back into the bag and threw it onto the backseat.

"You two really need to talk... for real. She has to confess her feelings and you have to tell her what you just told me, you're old enough to get that settled peacefully," Zoro concluded with a gentle undertone.

"I guess I will have to," Luffy groaned and shifted in his seat in discomfort.

Their appointment was set due 11.30am, by the time they had finally found the building set in a huge clearing near a creek, it was 11.46am. Hopefully the guy wouldn't report about it to their boss, and even if, there was actually nothing they had to fear about. As Sanji had put it, they were the best in their department and their boss would be lost without them, he couldn't just throw them out. Not because they couldn't find a darn log cabin in a thick forest. And it wasn't by far easy to march through the woods and worry about a suit, the fabric of their dress pants was thin and damageable, not to mention those uncomfortable shoes that weren't made for long walks on uneven ground.

The area was quite nice, with the woods and the creek, the exterior seemed appropriate for an animal shelter as well as a hotel. Before knocking at the door and announcing their arrival, they walked around to examine the place further, mostly to have a reason why they were late. Several huge stalls and smaller cabins were settled around the huge main building, a few spots were framed by fences, one of them was inhabited by a few hen that seemed healthy and happy. So far, nothing seemed wrong about this place but that wasn't enough for them to let their guards down.

Along the path towards the front door were beautiful flower pots, a harmonic arrangement of colors greeted the visitor and welcomed them to the residence. It looked cozy and promising, beautifully decorated to a point where it could trick anyone into believing that this place was what people would expect. But no one could fool them.

Although they had done this plenty of times before, had been standing in front of doors leading to people who didn't even bother to keep their crime secret, they had been kicking doors and acting like police cops quite a handful of times and still they were a little nervous of what could await them behind this fancy wooden door. They weren't armed since they didn't assume this applicant to be dangerous, from the documents they had been working through in the early hours of this morning, this man was anything but a potential criminal and all they had to check up on were minor things, basically. You could never know.

Voices could be heard after Zoro had rang the bell, it was a familiar melody, not the shrill ring from their own houses. There was shuffling and the hollow sound of footsteps coming closer to the door, someone worked on the lock and opened the door an inch with a quiet crack. The feminine features of a woman looked back at them, soft black locks framing her face and few bangs diagonally covering her forehead, put in place by a silver clip at her temple. Her blue eyes glistened with a sort of amusement despite their bright shade that could easily be mistaken with ice. Simple, silver framed glasses sat on the bridge of her nose giving her an educated look.

Obviously she hadn't really looked at them, just noticed their suits and their department's identity cards attached to their jackets. She pulled the door open and spoke with a nervous smile adorning her thin rosy lips, "You must be the investigators, come in." Her whole face was beaming at them, her eyes closed as she smiled the broadest and most dishonest smile she could provide; she detested those men and the trouble they had put them through. She wanted them to take their damn notes, do their jobs, and then leave as soon as possible, hopefully positively impressed.

So when the men on the other side of the door didn't move an inch, she opened her eyes again, her features relaxing into a weaker smile at the edge of annoyance. It was difficult to remain calm and patient after all the months of fruitless calls and appointments with a thousand different departments who only sent them two investigators as proof of their distrust.

"Can you co-" she began with a little bit of harshness in her voice but she cut herself out when her gaze finally settled on the faces of the two suited men. Her heart skipped several beats before it started pounding painfully inside her chest and she had to cover her mouth with her hand to muffle the scream that was about to erupt from her throat.

They stared at each other for a moment, mouth gaping open and eyes wide with surprise and slowly growing joy. It was her to finally break the silence and almost throw herself at them, between the two of them, and wrapped her arms around their necks. Tears started to run down her cheeks in streams when they responded to her hug, tightened their embrace as if they wouldn't want to let her go again.

"Are you even real?" she suddenly asked and pulled away to pinch Luffy's cheek and stretch his skin, as expected she could stretch it for as long as she wanted and it would go back into place, as if nothing had happened.

"Of course we are," Luffy grumbled with a chuckle in his voice. His hand moved up to rub his cheek, no one had used his rubber ability in a while, the feeling was odd but still familiar.

"I'm sorry, it's just... just so... surreal, I can't believe it," the black-haired woman blushed and stepped back a bit, the back of her hand wiping over her eyes as she spoke. "I could be dreaming as well, you know. It wouldn't be new."

"You tell me," Luffy chuckled widely at her. They all probably felt the same way about this unexpected but craved encounter, it simply seemed too good to be true.

The broad smile on Zoro's lips was mirroring in Luffy's face when they shared a glance and stepped into the hallway of the house. The walls were made out of white painted wood panels, meeting at their bottom with the wooden floor which was in a darker, dirtier shade of white. It was a round hall, small for an entrance hall but the simplicity of the furniture and the atmosphere that was created inside these walls was warm and comfortable. It felt as if every little detail, from the grass green curtains to the little pencil box with cat pattern on the registration desk had their own little purpose of welcoming the visitors. There was a soft green carpet in the center of the floor, a small green couch and an armchair underneath the huge arched window with a white table in between and some shelves along the walls carrying various vases, shells or other forest-related decorations.

Three doors let into other areas of the house in each direction. A spiral stair let up to a first floor and probably to a second floor as well, since the building was big in its height rather than its width. One of the doors were opened, revealing a corridor leading to a lot of other doors on its sides and to a huge glass door obviously leading outside.

"Wow, it looks really great," Luffy pointed out while they were walking through the entrance area towards said corridor, "I really love the design of... this whole place, actually."

They stepped into a quite colorful room that only at second glance looked like a kitchen. The cabinets, counters, cupboards and shelves were in an off-white shade, their insides were of a rich matt red color while most of the walls were painted in a soft sky blue. One wall was dedicated to a shelf system holding about fifty different pots of plants, mostly herbs. A huge kitchen island was set in the center, two stools placed in front of them however there was space for two more. Another huge wooden door led outside onto a porch, decorated with lots of plants and furniture of oak wood, creating another dining area.

She led them outside onto the porch, it was a small area hidden behind a huge hedge of Japanese holly and filled with a million of tiny little things such as little flower pots, figures, little flat bowls that looked like ponds, a small creek curved its way through a flower bed and disappeared under the hedge. It looked like the home of fairies from some children's book, so much love to the detail, so colorful and vivid, and so surreal.

As they sat down on the soft cushioned chairs, a small and nervous voice sounded from inside the house, it seemed to come from the corridor, judging from its volume. "Robin?" the voice asked several times until it came closer but its owner still stayed out of their sight.

"Chopper! Come here, we have special guests!" the raven-haired lady smiled widely towards the opened kitchen door, as if she saw him standing there but no matter how Luffy nor Zoro craned their necks, they couldn't make out anything.

There was silence followed by a deep sigh leaving Robin's lips, she turned towards her friends and whispered, "He's afraid of people even more since we lost each other... he... he sent in the papers for this place but he wouldn't want to talk to anyone at the departments. I think he thinks you're... well, you're not you."

"He can't be blamed, I can't believe I'm here either," Zoro smiled gently, his voice as quiet as Robin's. She smiled at him in return and touched his arm, nudged it gently and stood up.

"I'll get us some coffee and then we have to talk," she announced and walked back inside, leaving them alone in this unreal garden.

Both of them didn't know what to say. There they were, sitting in a garden of a house that obviously belonged to their long lost friends, Robin and Chopper. Accidentally they had found them, unexpectedly they were reunited with two of their friends, when hours ago they hadn't even known that this place existed. When last night, they had relived the catastrophe in their dreams, when they had lost all their hope all over again, to ever find anyone else of their crew.

And now they were sitting in their home, about to have coffee, about to share memories of the past two years. It was hard for both to believe that it was real, that they weren't dreaming or somehow being tricked, but somehow it felt too real to be not reality.

They looked at each other and started to laugh, out of relief, out of happiness. How dumbfounded they must look at some point, they came here expecting some weirdo with long hair and a vision of 'trees shall be equal to humans' but found their friends who they had been missing so much for two never-ending, torturing years. This day seemed so surreal now that the little magical garden appeared normal.

"Come on, Chopper. I promise, they're not gonna hurt you," Robin spoke as she stepped onto the porch again, carrying a tray with four cups, a coffee pot and a glass jar of cookies towards the table, put it down in its center and turned back around.

Nothing moved, no one responded, not even a shuffling could be heard. The little reindeer's reaction wasn't the one Robin had hoped for, she had been so eager to make them meet as well and now he was hiding away even more. It was understandable, she could even relate to some extent; after all this time, after all the dreams that had never come true, it didn't seem right, it didn't seem true that they were here.

With a disappointed expression and an apologetic smile Robin sat down opposite of the investigators, her gaze still fixed on some spot in the kitchen they couldn't see from their angle. "I'm sorry... he doesn't want to believe me. And I can understand him, I wouldn't either if I was him."

"Where is he?" Zoro asked, taking off his dress jacket and loosening his tie, and got up to his feet, "Maybe he lets me close."

"He's in the kitchen, hiding in that little niche between the sink and the wall... it's his favorite hiding spot," Robin explained with a small smile, she didn't want to recall how many times she had found him there, crying and biting on his arms to wake himself up from what he thought was a nightmare. Each time had broken her heart a little more, each time she had to tell him that even though they were alone, their friends were somewhere unknown, there was still hope they would find them. And now that they had, the scars went deeper than his hope.

On his way to the kitchen door, Zoro touched Robin's shoulder affectionately and smiled down at her, a gesture she replied by touching his hand in return. His smile was encouraging, warm and soft, the kind of smile she had wished to once be given instead of having to give. All this time she had had to keep Chopper's and her own hopes up, all those months she had had to soothe them both without anyone who could provide her warmth and comfort.

When the green-haired swordsman let go of her and disappeared into the house, she sighed deeply and leaned back in her chair, all these emotions at once were somehow exhausting. Her gaze wandered off though her eyes were fixed on Luffy filling their cups with coffee, his hand taking out one of the cookies she had made herself. She considered labelling this event as sort of miracle but it wasn't her to believe in such things at all.

"Those cookies are great, have you made them?" Luffy asked as he reached for a second one, this time leaving the lid open.

"Yes, I have. After all the preparations for the hotel were done, I had a lot of waiting to live through," she smiled weakly at him, "Thank you, I'm glad you like them. I've never thought I'd get into cooking."

"I know what you mean. We've all done... things that we've never thought we would. Like Zoro shares a house with Sanji, and I... I work my ass off for Nami," Luffy spoke and sipped on his coffee, currently his most favorite drink.

Robin thought for a moment, trying to wrap her mind around all those information. "Is there a way for you to tell me easily and systematically what happened in the past two years?"

A loud chuckle slipped from his lips as he put down his cup, "I could try." After a short moment of thinking and remembering, he started to tell her what she wanted to know. How Nami and he had been washed to the shore, how they had lived with that old farmers' couple, how they had done stupid jobs in order to afford a home, how he'd applied for the job at the government and how he'd met Zoro there, and rolled into his and Sanji's story.

Meanwhile Zoro was putting foot before foot, he added enough pressure to his steps to be heard but still give Chopper enough time to run away. He'd seen the little doctor in this state quite a few times in their early stages of nakamaship, especially the first few nights in which Usopp and Luffy would make up horrifying stories about ocean ghosts that along with his homesickness kept the reindeer awake and crying his eyes out. Whenever he'd heard him sobbing and hiding in the galley, Zoro had approached him carefully to give him space and time to flee if he wanted to, most of the times Chopper would end up sleeping in his bunk though.

There was a sniffing sound coming from the corner Robin had mentioned, the same quiet and infantile sniff he associated with Chopper. A warm smile spread on his face, if the little doctor was just frightened, he knew what to do. He sat down on the floor by the little niche for the trash cans, leaned back against the wall and waited a moment in silence. A little leaf-patterned curtain was separating them now, perfectly hiding Chopper's body behind itself but unable to keep the little sobs away from Zoro's ears.

"Hey, Chopper," Zoro finally spoke, he made sure to sound gentle and calm but still familiar. The sobs grew louder and became muffled, he was probably trying to convince Zoro that he wasn't there so he would go away. "Chopper, it's okay. You don't need to be scared anymore."

There was shuffling and another sob, then a shaky and small voice cried, "You're not real... you're not real, leave me alone."

Was there anything he could say? Every word he'd say, Chopper would take as part of his dream, made up by his hurt heart that was missing his friends. He reached out and pulled back the curtain to reveal a Chopper curled up into a ball in the corner, his tears covered face looking in fear back at him. "I am real, Chopper, as real as I were about two years ago. You're not dreaming, buddy, I'm sitting here for real," he smiled at his little friend.

The little reindeer blinked at him in confusion and disbelief, he had dreamed about similar situations before and each time he woke up finding himself caught in a reality that wasn't in the slightest like his dreams. Each time he woke up remembering that their nakama were gone, that they could even be dead. But now, now there was Zoro looking at him and he looked so real, his eyes shining in the little light coming from the tiny kitchen window, his hair as green as ever.

Inch by inch Chopper shifted closer towards the older man, he turned onto his knees and curiously leaned forward to touch his old nakama, he wanted to make sure he was real. If he could touch him and he wouldn't fade, then he ought to be real, right? With his hoof he first touched his arm quickly, almost expecting Zoro to vanish with a pop, but the man remained where he was. He stared up at him with wide eyes, it was dawning on him that this was his friend Zoro and he was real, he was alive and he was real and he was here for real. He wasn't a dream.

"You... you are... real...," Chopper concluded, and his face slowly turned into a broad smile as the realization sank in. "You are real... you are real!" The last words were a cry out of joy and he flung himself at Zoro who caught him with a loud chuckle and held him close. "Oh, Zoro, I missed you so much..." His smile was replaced by another wave of tears, his eyes were glistening from the tears collecting in their corners. "I thought you... I thought... you were dead, Zoro..."

"I'm not dead, I'm as alive as I could ever be," Zoro smiled warmly at him, rubbing the reindeer's back, "So are Luffy, Sanji and Nami. We're all fine." He didn't want to mention the other three, they had no knowledge of their whereabouts which would probably only darken Chopper's mood even more. "Everything's gonna be alright."

"I am so happy, Zoro," Chopper cried into the man's dress shirt but they couldn't be bothered, there were more important things now than Zoro's expensive shirt.

"It's strangely soothing that we weren't the only ones going through a tough time," Robin sighed with a small smile when Luffy ended his story. "Even though Sanji's and Nami's reactions are rather... radical."

"What do you mean, Nami's reaction?" Luffy frowned at her in confusion. He couldn't help but tell her everything about his life with Nami, about their fights and her behavior and how he didn't want to get married. The archaeologist had always been good at giving advices and he was in dear need for one or he would go insane.

"Well," Robin began and reached for her cup of coffee to take a sip before continuing, "She's always been a little... bossy and she's always been very focused on wealth and money. I know she was worse when you all met her, she told me once how you guys shaped her and changed her mind about friendship. At some point she started putting you, or rather us, on top of her list of priorities." Her eyes scanned Luffy's face to see if he was following her, to her surprise he seemed to understand where she was heading. "I think she... fell back into her old behavior as way of coping with the loss. And after some time, she was so stuck in this new reality that she became what she is now. While Sanji is breaking and drowning himself in his pain instead of coping with it."

She watched her captain lean back in his chair and look up into the bright blue sky, obviously weighing her words in his head. It was clear that he wasn't happy with his situation, he was carrying a lot of responsibility on his shoulders while having to deal with his own fears and agony and also with Nami who was running off into a completely different direction. She'd always been wondering how this air-headed, easy-going and childish young adult was able to handle all the responsibility without losing himself in the chaos. If she looked closely now, she could see how he had aged throughout the past two years, there were only hints of those characteristics left in his eyes. The familiar passionate flame was dying under the weight of world.

"Maybe it'll knock some sense into her that you're back in our lives," he finally said with a smile, his head lolled to the side to look at her. "I would wish for it. She's holding my sanity in her hands... I've never given so much to someone and I can't say I enjoy it."

"I understand," Robin chuckled, "You're an ern not a budgie." The smile on her friend's lips widened, filling out his entire face the way she knew him.

"You always know the right words to say," Luffy chuckled back at her, "I missed that." He reached out for her hand, wrapped his fingers around it and squeezed it gently, a gesture he had used on Nami back at the farm whenever she was sad.

Small tears prickled at the corners of Robin's eyes, how she had been missing such moments, missing his smile and his whole being. The nightmare had finally ended. "I missed you, too, more than I ever thought I would," she whispered and let the tears fall down her cheeks; it was okay to cry now, she was finally safe.

Footsteps sounded from the kitchen door along with squealing and giggling and soon Zoro stood outside on the porch again, carrying a beaming Chopper on his shoulders. It was like in old times, the sight of them like this had been a daily highlight for Robin, she couldn't believe she was lucky to see it again. That and how the reindeer eagerly jumped onto Luffy's lap to greet his friend made her give into the feeling and the tears that were now streaming down her face. Everything seemed so unreal, so damn unreal, what if she would wake up any minute to find out that she had just been dreaming again? It sounded so like her, to wish those investigators would turn out to be their long lost friends instead of some arrogant men who'd take away their newly built lives. She didn't want it to be another dream, she wouldn't survive another disappointment, not again, not so soon.

A hand brushed over her cheek gently, wiping away the tears almost skillfully. She looked up and found Zoro's warm smile shining down on her, his hand moved into her neck to caress her shoulders in order to calm her down. Relaxing she leaned against him, her head resting against his belly while she let him comfort her so perfectly. She had always expected him to have a soft side somewhere but feeling it now was still unbelievable.

When her tears were dried, Zoro sat back down on his chair and fixed himself a cup of coffee, yearning for one right now. Although he was used to solace someone from Sanji, it still chewed on his nervous whenever someone he cared for started to cry around him. And watching Robin cry had always struck a chord inside of him.

"I guess you want to hear how Chopper and I ended up here," Robin spoke after a moment of comfortable silence with another cup of coffee in her hands. The two just nodded and she didn't hesitate to begin with their story. "I don't really remember what happened during the storm, I just know that we held onto each other for dear life. Everything happened so fast and the water made it hard for me to focus. But I remember waking up on some board drifting on the sea with Chopper next to me. There were plenty of shattered furniture and boards floating around us, I really hope that... that the Sunny didn't take as much damage from the cyclone as it seemed." She paused to gather her thoughts and courage to go on. "We managed to survive on the sea for three days before a fisher boat found us and brought as to the shore. I don't know how we could have been granted with so much luck in such a dark situation. The fisher were kids of a nice couple who lived in this very forest close to the shore and we were welcomed to live with them for a while. Their father is the current ranger of the Aureus forest, that was where Chopper's ability of understanding animals came in pretty handy. Not to mention his knowledge about medicine and nature in general. So we ended up helping the ranger on his strolls through the forest. He let us live in one of their cabins, paid us a pretty good wage and we... were sort of part of their family."

"I learned a lot in that time," Chopper threw in smiling happily, "And Robin studied the history of this country from the books of the old man. It was a good time with them but some day we felt like we needed to move on and... so we came up with founding this place. We thought that maybe it would become famous among the people and you would find us..."

"Like a lighthouse in the night," Robin smiled at her little friend, "We hoped you would grow suspicious somehow and that you would come here. It seemed better than to travel through the world without a hint of any of you."

"Almost like our plan," Zoro nodded and brushed his fingers through his messy green hair, "Luffy and I had the same idea when we applied for the job at the government. For one we're safe there from any bounty hunters and then we would gain a lot of information about strange incidents or people. I'm glad that worked out."

"Me too," Robin beamed at him, "Without the forest ranger's help, we wouldn't have managed to achieve this though. He and his family helped us to build this house and the part with the inn was their idea, they said that the people in this country have lost their connection to their origins and nature and a place like this in the famous Aureus Forest would be a good attempt at changing that."

"Wow, I'll put that into the report," Luffy laughed and took another cookie from the jar. "I think it will convince the departments, they're easy to impress actually. Especially when we pull up."

"Haha, yeah, there won't be any problems anymore," Zoro chuckled in agreement, "Even if you'd slaughter animals, as long as we give our okay, they won't give a shit about you anymore."

"Then I'm pretty happy we weren't sent other investigators," Robin chuckled as well, she was more than just relieved that everything was working out so well. From the corner of her eye she could see the huge smile on Chopper's face that didn't seem to fade anymore, and she felt exactly the same about the outcome.

Suddenly the ringing sound of a cell phone interrupted their peaceful moment and everybody turned their heads towards Zoro who was now fumbling for his phone in his dress pants' pockets. A deep sigh left his lips when he read the name on the screen, and released another when he looked at the little clock. It was way past lunch time, normally he would be on his way home already or at least call that he wouldn't be home before dinner. "I go inside quickly," he excused himself, arose from his chair and left the group for the kitchen, not without hearing Robin ask who it was and Luffy's reply, "Probably Sanji."

The ringing didn't stop until he accepted the call, Sanji could be so persistent. "Hey," he spoke softly and leaned back against the kitchen island, "I'm sorry I didn't call. I... got kinda... distracted."

There was a pause, a shaky sigh and then a hiccup, typical for the cook when he had been crying too much. "_It's okay, I just got a little worried..._," Sanji sniffed, not bothered to hide how hurt he was that something was more important than calling him, "_When will you be home?_"

"I don't know," Zoro sighed closing his eyes, he knew that it wasn't by far okay and it made his stomach churn. "Do you need me home now?"

"_N-no... it's okay. Just be home for dinner, okay? You can bring Luffy, too._" His voice was calm and friendly but Zoro knew he was lying, he could imagine him squeezing his eyes shut to hold his tears at bay.

"About that...," Zoro started off but interrupted himself when Sanji started to sob, obviously thinking he was being turned down. In frustration the swordsman brushed through his hair again, thinking hard of what to say. He wanted to stay here for a while longer and have dinner with his nakama, he didn't want to leave them so soon again. But he had promised Sanji to be home for dinner today and he stuck to his promises, like resin to skin.

"_It's fine, I can eat alone tonight. I'll be fine._" There was shuffling and a strangled sob, followed by the sound of water splashing; he was most likely having a bath.

"No, Sanji, listen... I'll pick you up in an hour, okay? I know you hate going out but you won't regret it. There're people I want you to meet, Luffy's here too. Maybe you want to bring some stuff and make dinner here?" Zoro figured his choice of words wasn't perfect but they would hopefully do their work.

More shuffling, Sanji was probably considering the offer. "_Okay. Do I need to dress up?_"

"I leave that up to you, cook. Just try to relax before I pick you up, okay? You won't have the mind to be anxious here anyway," Zoro chuckled into the phone.

"_You're confusing me, marimo. I hope your plans for the evening will be worth my time_," Sanji spoke in his typical cocky cook-tone, the one Zoro had learned to treasure since it indicated that the blonde was in a good mood.

"I promise, cook. My ability to plan fun times have never disappointed you," Zoro grinned, knowing well that Sanji was chuckling and rolling his eyes at his words.

"_Alright, I'll see you in an hour. Don't make me wait_."

About an hour later, Sanji found himself being dragged down a curvy path in the Aureus Forest, Zoro's hand gently but tightly wrapped around his. The idiotic marimo and his stupid smirk had picked him up half an hour earlier than planned which had ruined Sanji's plans of getting dressed, fixing his hair, making some snacks and being out of the damn bathtub when the idiot of swordsman would burst in without knocking. There had been a little bit of awkwardness from his side but Zoro didn't seem to care, he was in such a good mood that it actually scared Sanji, even though he couldn't deny how it cheered up his spirits as well.

"Oi, marimo, slow down," Sanji called and tried to tug at the green-haired man's hand. The path was of uneven ground, stones and twigs, up's and down's everywhere and with the pace Zoro was guiding them through the forest, Sanji had trouble to keep his balance and not stumble over a branch.

Zoro stopped in his tracks and turned around to find his friend leaning over, hands on his knees and panting as if he had been running a marathon. "You should do some exercise once in a while, you know. That would help," he teased him and gained a death glare through the blonde's curtain of hair.

"Shut up," Sanji hissed and straightened up again, "You know that I have no spare time to go to the gym like you." Still panting he stepped closer to be on the same level as Zoro, he was glad he had decided against wearing dress shoes and picked his plain brown sneakers that matched his outfit of black jeans, beige cardigan and a sky blue dress shirt perfectly well, not to mention how convenient those clothes were here in the woods in comparison to Zoro's.

"Well, you could cut back hours. You work too much for the little salary you get, and it's not like we'd starve or anything if you worked less," Zoro suggested, knowing well his attempts were fruitless, the stupid cook would never listen to him.

"No, I would lose my job if I did and I can't lose my job!" Sanji shot back glaring at his friend, his face was red with anger and his ribcage rising and fall in growing rage. He hated it when Zoro brought this very conversation up, he hated how that idiot thought there was nothing wrong if he gave up his job, his independence. Because he would lose the little he had left of it, if he quit his job. No matter how much he appreciated Zoro's efforts and company to some point, he was still a man and still had pride, he still was able to care for himself, if only financially. And if only a little bit.

"Fine," Zoro frowned and held his hands up in defeat, "No need to get angry, okay? I told you to relax before we arrive. I'm not in the mood to pick a fight with you, not right now." The soft tone of his voice and the weight of his words made Sanji reconsider his outburst and he immediately regretted it. Marimo was trying to be nice to him, even somehow trying to cheer him up, and all he did was yelling at him when he only wanted to help. Just... what was wrong with him lately?

They continued walking, this time in a slower pace and without their hands touching, something Sanji felt weird about. Sometimes their fingers would brush together and he considered tangling them together again but then, what would Zoro think? And why would he even _want_ to hold hands with the marimo? They might have shared a bed last night but they hadn't touched, and whenever they touched it was because Sanji was depressed or they were fighting. And holding hands didn't fit into any of those criteria.

Mentally he shook his head and pushed his hands into his pants' pockets to avoid any touches. His gaze wandered around, there were trees everywhere, carrying rich tops that hid the sky from his eyes. Why would anyone live here? No one would find the way to their house and would get lost so quickly; were they even on the right path?

"Oi, marimo, how do I know that we're not in the process of getting lost?" he asked bluntly, drawing Zoro's attention fully back at him. The swordsman's mouth opened to come up with some smart comment but closed again, his cheeks turned a shade of pink and he looked away, rubbing the back of his neck. "Perfect, couldn't you have sent Luffy to pick me up? I didn't want to get lost in the forest on my last day off, thanks much."

"Hey, I'll figure this out, okay, just trust me this once," Zoro spoke in defense and pulled out his cell phone when a disembodied hand reached out of a nearby tree and pointed west. A quiet chuckle crossed his lips and he turned to Sanji who luckily was busy examining a group of mushrooms and didn't notice Robin's arm sticking out of the tree. "Come on, you can play with your friends later."

After a little of smacking each other in the neck, they set off into the direction the hand had pointed to. All the way, hands would appear to guide Zoro who pretended to look the way up on his cell phone, and he made a mental note to ask Robin later how she had managed to successfully hide her hands from Sanji's sight. The grumpy expression on the blonde's face faded as soon as they entered the clearing, he'd known the cook would enjoy the sight, he had always been a fan of nature and its wonders. "Pretty, huh?" Zoro smiled at him, his eyes roaming over the cook's body, only halting at his face that he hadn't seen so at peace and calm in weeks.

"Yes, it's perfect. Are we right here?" Sanji smirked at his friend and got gently shoved by him in response.

"Luffy and I thought the same when we got here but it seems kinda fitting, I think. They only need to mark the path and put up signs but I think people will love to spend their vacations here," Zoro smiled again, gazing over the clearing before them.

"Yeah, I think I'll get a room right away so I can have some time off from you." Sanji flinched before Zoro could even launch an attack at him which wouldn't be more than another shove or smack over the head.

Zoro stepped closer so Sanji took a few steps backwards until his back hit a tree, a quick hint of fear flashed up in the cook's eyes, if Zoro wanted he could easily beat him up here and he wouldn't even be able to fight back. Two years of doing nothing but peeling potatoes and cutting vegetables and no training had done their work on turning his body weak and quickly exhausted. But Zoro was as strong and skilled as ever, he had joined a gym and found a dojo to train at, he even went swimming once a week. His body was as well-shaped and muscled as about two years ago while his own seemed to go back in time and copied the shape of a boy's.

The teasing smirk on Zoro's lips faded when he noticed the quick change of expression in Sanji's face. He'd only wanted to fool around with him like back in the days because he felt like back in the days, but the sadness and agony buried under temporary happiness in Sanji's eyes were proof enough that they wouldn't _be back in the days_ so quickly.

"Don't tell me you're scared of me," he spoke quietly, one hand propped up next to Sanji's head while his body was leaning into the other man for a little bit.

"Y-you wish, idiot," Sanji stuttered and turned his head away though never drew his eyes from Zoro's that seemed more of a golden shade than brownish.

"You're the idiot here, cook. Last night you cried in my arms and then fell asleep lying right next to me, it doesn't make a sense that you're scared of me now," Zoro frowned and leaned back again.

Was there anything he could say to this? He knew Zoro would never hurt him seriously, he was nakama after all, they were somehow family. Lately Zoro had been closer to him than anyone had ever been in his life, no one had ever cared for him as much as the marimo and yet he felt so vulnerable, so weak for letting him into his broken mind. It scared him that Zoro could read him like a damn book, that he knew when he was close to tears and what brought him to tears, although it also meant that he knew how to chase those demons away. Being so exposed to someone felt unfamiliar to him and with his body's current condition, he was scared that one day, he'd say the wrong word and Zoro would snap and beat him up. And he wouldn't even be able to defend himself.

"Now come on, they're already waiting for us," Zoro broke the silence finally and reached for Sanji's hand again as he turned to walk. Silently they walked up the path leading up to the front door, Robin had left it unlocked for them and so he pushed it open and pulled Sanji inside. The blonde's head turned from one side to the other, he was taking in his surroundings with curious eyes and his mouth gaping open a little, obviously impressed by the harmonic and neatly decorated interior. It made the swordsman chuckle, Sanji had developed an interest in interior design and decoration in general; in retrospective, it sounded pretty much like the cook.

Rushing through the entrance hall, Zoro never let go of Sanji's hand who let himself being dragged anywhere at this point. The blonde was too caught up observing the world around him that he luckily didn't notice the blush settling on the swordsman's cheeks or the wide smile on his lips that gained in intensity when he saw Robin entering the kitchen - unnoticed by Sanji. Latter was staring at an oil painting of a riot in which center someone flew a flag, it dressed the wall opposite of the kitchen door and when Zoro wanted to pull him into the room Robin was in, he found the younger man glued to the ground in front of the picture.

"Oi, cook, stop being creepy and finally move," Zoro insisted with a chuckle, no matter how cute he looked, so curious and passionate about this piece of art, it was sometimes creepy what new, unexpected and strangely attractive sides he discovered on the blonde cook. He tugged at the other man's hand, pulled and squeezed it gently, even brushed his thumb over its back to freak him out over the affectionate gesture but Sanji didn't move at all. Whatever meaning or event the painting was based off on, it was more important right now than Zoro. "Shithead, move!"

"Let him be, Zoro. It's a very special painting, to say the least," Robin's voice sounded from the kitchen doorway, soft and warm, matching the chuckle on the older woman's lips. Zoro quickly chuckled back at her before turning back to Sanji but he didn't miss the glistening of the happy tears in her blue eyes.

His reaction was beyond Zoro's imagination. He'd expected him to strip off his depression and turn back to his old, perverted love-cook self, he'd kind of even expected him to doubt her and him, to consider this as bad joke or weak attempt at cheering him up. But he'd never expected the following, not with Sanji. It was almost comical, surreal how his ears twitched like a wild cat's upon hearing potential prey approaching. The fingers curled around Zoro's first tightened around his digits, then softened until he let go and slowly turned around, revealing his facial expression to them. His eyes were wide opened, shining so clear with tears and emotions that Zoro had to swallow a gasp and tear his eyes away so he wouldn't lose himself inside these orbs. The sight was gone anyway when Sanji rushed past him, his tears rolling down his cheeks and his bottom lip trembling as he choked out, "Robin..."

Zoro watched them hug, holding onto each other as if they were moored buoys in the raging sea, Sanji's face nuzzled into her raven hair, Robin's hands changed from fisting his cardigan to rubbing his back soothingly. They seemed to whisper into each other's ears, or rather cried and sobbed into each other's ears, and as much as Zoro wanted to know what they were talking about, he knew he should give them a moment and left for the restroom.

For a moment Sanji forgot about everything. About his cockiness, about his pride and sense of honor, about the marimo standing right next to him, about the woman he fancied who was now almost cradling him in her arms to calm him down. He was losing his face but he didn't care, have Robin see him cry, he didn't care, he couldn't care. "You're alive... I was so scared... I thought you... you had died... I thought... I'd never see you again, Robin, I thought you'd be gone forever...," he sobbed into her shoulder, his long fingers were tangled into a fistful of black hair to the point where it must hurt her.

"I was scared, too, Sanji-kun, I felt the same... I couldn't sleep at night anymore, I was missing you and the others so much... I'm so happy you're alive, Sanji-kun," Robin cried into his ear, she was unable to hold her feelings back. She had never felt like this before. Of course, she had missed her nakama, or her home or the ship which was her home now. They were her family that she had been missing already plenty of times, that she had craved to be close to before. But missing them individually and not as group was totally new to her. "I'm so happy...," she smiled as she pulled away and pecked his cheek gently, "All the waiting, all the nights I had to keep Chopper's and my own hopes up, it was all worth it..."

In any other situation, two years ago, he would've swirled around her in a cloud of hearts and his mind would've shut off but that part of him had died in the cyclone, drowned in the merciless great wide ocean. "Chopper's with you? He's here?" Sanji choked out wide-eyed staring at Robin whose lips curled into a chuckle and whose hands were gently caressing the back of his neck. How could they be so lucky? Being reunited with two of their long lost nakama, two at once! There had to be some kind of catch, he didn't trust his luck anymore. Luck was only an indication of an upcoming disaster, life had taught him that plenty of times.

"Yes, he's outside with Luffy," Robin smiled at him, grabbed his hand and led him outside onto the porch through the kitchen. Their fingers were tightly entangled and she had no objection nor mind to let go. Obviously Sanji's reaction to these kinds of touches had changed quite a lot; however she had never been as annoyed by it as Nami, she felt more comfortable with this new side of Sanji.

Outside on the porch they found Chopper sitting in Luffy's lap, a deep frown was on the reindeer's face as he watched the raven-haired man talking on the phone. The expression on Luffy's face and the tone of his voice wiped the smiles off their faces, he sounded worried but also disappointed, almost frustrated. His words faded into the breeze that danced over his cheeks, failing to tickle a smile out of him. "I can't reach Nami for some reason... could be she's at a movie with her friends, I don't know," he finally said in a low voice, his eyes fixed on Chopper's sad ones although he wasn't really looking at him.

They remained silent for another minute, no one knew what to say or how to react. Sanji's hand was still holding Robin's, squeezing it gently as a small wave of anxiety rushed through him. Even though Luffy had a point, the blonde knew better. Let Nami take them all for granted, let her be reckless and careless but he knew that she would be available at all times. Particularly when Luffy would try to call her plenty of times, she'd react disregarding where she was or with whom she was. So seeing that he had to leave her a voicemail after trying over and over again to call her, something bad must have happened.

"Hey, shithead, don't stand in my way," Zoro's voice sounded from behind Sanji, followed by a familiar shove in his back. With a groan he turned around and was greeted with a wide smirk on the swordsman's face as said one walked over to one of the chairs and sat down.

"Shitty marimo, don't _you_ get in my way while I'm with a lady," Sanji hissed back at him with a glare that caused Robin to giggle wholeheartedly.

"Sanji!" Chopper squealed in delight and jumped off Luffy's lap and up into Sanji's arms, "Oh Sanji, I've missed you so much!" His little arms wrapped around the cook's neck as he nuzzled his soft face into the crook of his neck, relaxing into the embrace once Sanji hugged him back.

"I've missed you too, buddy," Sanji whispered into his ear, he had one arm wrapped tightly around the reindeer's middle, even brushed through his soft fur a little. As girlish and childish this might sound, he had missed the feeling of the soft hair against his fingers, had missed the squeaky young voice of their doctor, and most of all his urge to worry and care about everyone. But now he was back in Sanji's life, the only doctor he had ever trusted in this world.

Time seemed to slow down in the little garden, none of them noticed the sun going down nor the birds' tweeting fading into crickets' chirring, within their little group the sun was still shining even when they were surrounded by nightly darkness. Nothing could ruin their mood, they talked and laughed and told their stories and ate delicious food just like in the good old times. Towards the end of the day they were reminiscing in their shared past, in old adventures when they had still been together, when there had still been nine of them living on a ship, sailing from island to island, in direction of their dearest dreams. Tears were shed over sadness and happiness and the wish to live those adventures again.

It was past midnight when they finally separated and retreated to their homes.

The house was dark and silent when Luffy closed the front door, changed into his slippers and threw his keys into the bowl. Moonlight shone into the corridor through the opened living-room door, coating the furniture in silvery light and creating a surreal atmosphere. The curtains weren't drawn, the dishes done, blankets neatly folded on the couch, remotes at their rightful places and his ashtray emptied. It was as if life had been removed from his home while he was out, everything looked like the set-up's of a photoshoot for a furniture magazine.

But in that moment, he was too excited to notice the signs, he was too stuck in the thoughts that were waiting in his throat to be finally voiced. His feet carried him through the corridor, throwing glances into each room on his way to the stairs; it was way past midnight, she could also be in bed already. He practically jumped up the stairs, taking two steps at once, not even having the mind to be quiet. Inside his head his heart was pounding out of happiness and the urge to share this feeling with his friend, he couldn't wait to deliver the news to her.

For once he was forgetting where they were, that this wasn't two years ago on the Sunny, that this wasn't a completely different life, that they hadn't somehow grown into a less colorful version of themselves. His mind was back to his old way of thinking and acting and so he called, barely having reached the top of the stairs, "Nami, wake up, I've got news! You won't believe this!" Upstairs was as silent as downstairs, as dark and lifeless as he had been greeted only minutes ago when stepping through the front door.

"I tried to call you several times but you didn't answer, I'm sorry, I wanted you to be there as well... where the hell have you been anyway? You never not call back, we got a little worried there...," Luffy went on, approaching the door across from his own bedroom at the end of the corridor. "You should screw all your plans for tomorrow and come with me, there's something I..." His feet halted abruptly on the doorsill, his heart skipped a few beats. "... need to show you..." The last words faded into the air that seemed to fill out the room he had just entered. Cold and merciless emptiness met his surprised eyes, the room was just as dead as the rest of the house. It left him standing there, speechless and clueless, while his mind was working out the meaning of the sight in front of him.

There was her bed, sheets and cushions arranged the exact way they had found the king-sized bed in the store. Curtains drawn back, the shelves and sideboards looked like they had never been used, like no one had ever placed framed pictures on top of them, nor filled their drawers with other valuable things. "No...," he breathed, stumbled into the room towards the walk-in closet and burst inside, almost ripping out the doors. It was empty, just the hangers dangling from the ceiling of the closet and the mirror on the opposite wall, framing his shocked face. She... was gone.

Nami was gone, simply disappeared. Every single piece of her, every little remainder of her that he had been able to touch and see with his eyes was gone. The realization rushed through his body in waves, growing and speeding up and turning into frustration and guilt. And goddamn worry. Emotions and thoughts raged inside him like magma in a volcano that within seconds reached its limits and spat out its hot liquid. His fist connected with the wall next to him, creating a hole in it but he couldn't think about the consequences now, he couldn't think straight at all. Not now.

She was gone. Fucking gone. He hadn't been able to reach her because she had long been gone. "SHIT!" he cried out in despair, pulled his fist out of the wall just to punch it all over again and replace it with his head that he bumped against the doorframe until he couldn't feel the stinging pain anymore. He had lost her, he had lost Nami whom he had been trying to keep safe, whom he had agreed on giving his freedom up for, just to make her stay. Whom he had never wanted to lose because fuck it, he needed her, she meant something to him, and that could even be more than he had ever shown her. She meant more to him than just nakamaship, than just simple friendship. And he had had the chance to prove her, last night, when she had been so damn close.

But that chance was gone, and so was her.

* * *

_Hello, there! First of all I want to thank anyone who reviewed, favorited, read and subscribed to my story! I hope you will stay with me through this story (and I hopefully won't disappoint any of you). Plans are that the chapters are going to be as long as this one in future, so along with life and work, it could take some time for me to finish a chapter._

_Uh, what I wanted to explain: This might appear as alternate universe and it surely is and I'm fine with it being AU but they're still the Strawhats and they still want to go back afloat. As well as this island is still somewhere on the Grand Line. So this could be an AU inside the OP-verse, or just plain AU, whatever you prefer to call it. ;)_

_In case of further questions, either review or PM me. Your questions can only help improving this story._

_Thanks so much to everyone who reads this story and follows it!_


	3. Chapter 3

"No, Zoro, she's gone for real," Luffy repeated a little more firmly, "All her clothes are gone, her jewelry, her photos, her... everything is gone." It had taken him a few moments, a smashed mirror and bleeding knuckles until he could think about what to do next. He had tried to call Nami, had texted her and emailed her, even though he knew that she wouldn't reply. When things had gotten over his head, he had decided to call Zoro, for one to let him know, and most of all to have someone to talk to before he would go insane.

There was silence at the other end of the line, then shuffling and Zoro's hushed voice, as if he was cooing to someone. "I'm sorry for waking you up...," Luffy sighed heavily and brushed his palm over his face, "I just didn't know what else to do. Actually, I still don't."

"_It's okay, we weren't sleeping anyway, Sanji was too excited after the visit. And the wine_," Zoro chuckled softly, he tried to sound calm but Luffy could still hear how Nami's departure affected him as well. "_And even if, it would be okay. I can relate._"

"Thanks," Luffy smiled and let himself fall back on the bed. The mattress felt good on his back, it was soft and comfortable, easing the pain that he was holding between his shoulders. His free hand hit the space next to his side, touching the crumpled up piece of paper that had been lying there when he had entered the room.

"_What did she write?_" The captain sighed again, rubbed his temple roughly and thought hard how to put it. "Is Sanji listening?" There was a quiet hum, not a good sign since it meant that the blonde was indeed listening and his good mood from meeting Robin and Chopper was already ruined. "She... I quote, 'Don't call me before you learned how to treat people with feelings.' And... that... that she's out of town and all the appointments for the wedding are called off and her... her ring was lying on top of it."

Zoro snorted, "_Wow, she didn't even explain herself. But instead insulted you... that's so her. Ouch! Shithead, stop pinching me! …you know it's true, she knows how to dish out but not how to take it._" Quietly Luffy could hear Sanji protesting a bit before his voice turned into a muffled sound he couldn't quite put a finger on. "_Idiot, first you pinch me then you want to cuddle._"

It made Luffy smile to hear their interactions, it was a wonderful distraction especially when they were fighting like back before the accident. "Sad but true," he agreed with his first mate and imagined Sanji glaring at him for doing so. "Just one more day and maybe things would've changed, I'm sure she would've stayed for free with Robin there! It would've given her hope and it would've made things better... even if she was mad at me, why would she let you down? Especially Sanji, he's still so nice to her although she keeps on kicking him off."

"_I don't know_," Zoro sighed thoughtfully, "_I used to think I would get her but now I know I don't. She's the biggest mystery in the world to me._"

"Same here. I thought I had things under control and I really thought things would go our way and... with Robin and Chopper, Franky, Brook and Usopp couldn't be far anymore, we'd be able to get away from this island finally. I was so looking forward to that...," Luffy rambled, one hand fisting his black hair, "I have no idea where she could be. Her friends wouldn't tell me and I don't even know where they live, I don't even have a number to call..."

"_Mh, what about Oakley? Isn't his wife like Nami's best friend?_" Zoro suggested and he had a good idea, that was indeed worth a try. "_You could ask him, I'm sure he'll help you out. He's a good guy. And I remember they have a small summer estate in __Herbeus Valley__, she could be there._"

"Could be, but wouldn't that be too easy? She knows I'll try to find her and if she didn't want to be found, she'll be hiding somewhere I wouldn't think of. I fear she's that clever," Luffy pointed out with a grimace directed to the plain white ceiling. For all he knew, she could be out of the state already, on the other side of the country, she could even be somewhere else on the Grand Line. This uncertainty drove him crazy, where should he start searching for her? She could be anywhere!

"_...yeah. Sanji's right I think. She probably just wants to have some time for herself and some time to think... At least I hope so. And maybe she wants to be found and that letter was just a test. After all, she's a woman and they want us to run after them even if it was their fault_," Zoro chuckled quietly but the chuckle quickly faded into another hiss and a distant giggle. "_Stupid cook, stop that. I can say what I want_."

"But he's right, yeah... she's still our Nami after all and I'm convinced that deep down, we're still on top of her list...," Luffy agreed quietly, more mumbling to himself than speaking to Zoro. They were right, he shouldn't freak out and most of all have faith in his nakama. "Okay, I think I'll try to sleep now... maybe she'll call tomorrow."

"_If not, then not. Don't push her but let her know that you're not okay with her reaction_," Sanji's voice suddenly sounded through the phone, hoarse and quiet. "_Take it easy tomorrow, don't stress yourself. Zoro can work for two tomorrow and you stay home. Maybe she'll come home again, then you ought to be there..._"

Luffy chuckled, "And Zoro's okay with that?"

"_Yes, he's nodding. If he wasn't, I would make him_," Sanji blurt out giggling loudly, then squealed, "_Oi, marimo, stop that, I'm ticklish!_" The giggling grew louder and shriller until it turned into a high-pitched squeak, a noise Luffy had never heard Sanji make.

"Okay, I will call you tomorrow sometime... or whenever I hear from her," Luffy interrupted them with a chuckle and was paid with their attention, "I'll leave you to each other now. Night."

"_See you tomorrow, night_," Zoro said before Luffy hung up, cutting off Sanji who called "_Hey, what do you mean-_" But latter seemed to be recovering from Nami's departure and Luffy didn't want to destroy any of Zoro's attempts at keeping Sanji smiling at least for the night.

* * *

"Shithead! You can't do that while we're on the phone!" Sanji glared at Zoro who only snickered at him, both his hands set at the blond's sides, ready to start another tickling session. The cook was still lying on top of him, between his legs like he had been since they had settled into the living-room to watch some mindless TV and have another bottle of wine.

They were too drunk to mind the position, or rather Sanji was too drunk to notice or at least care, not that Zoro minded. He had come to realize that being so close to the cook wasn't as sickening as he had imagined, it wasn't even bad at all and he had found to enjoy the moments they embraced or enjoyed comfortable silence.

"You're a jerk," Sanji finally concluded, slapped his head half heartedly and sat up, his hands resting on Zoro's knees between which he was sitting. "Dumb and careless and rude and mean." It made him chuckle even more which provoked the cook, he hated it when the green-haired shithead won an argument. And then his face. That annoying smug grin, Sanji wanted to wipe off his lips with the sole of his shoe. "What are you laughing about, idiot?"

"You said 'jerk', that's a new," Zoro smirked up at him, it earned him a roll of the blond's eyes and a blush across said one's cheeks, "And you're cute when you're trying to hurt my feelings."

"Cute!?" Sanji stared at him in shock and a little in surprise. How could he, _he_ of all people, characterize him, Sanji, as something like _cute_? "Asshole." He shifted out of the gap between Zoro's legs, onto his heels to stand up and walk off the couch over the shithead's legs, when a hand wrapped around his wrist and held him back.

"Hey, don't go, okay?" Zoro's hand let go of the cook's wrist to entangle their fingers, it was a gentle but weird gesture that even drunk felt awkward. From the corner of his eye, Sanji watched him connect their hands, how his thumb brushed over his own gently and it made him hesitate and stay put for a moment.

"Nice, you think I wouldn't come back, huh? I only wanted to get us another drink. But that's very sweet of you," Sanji purred with triumph glistening in his one visible eye that looked down on Zoro who tried his best at hiding how surprised he was by that reaction. Now he had him.

"Yeah, sure, shitcook," Zoro huffed and looked past him at the TV, some rerun of a kitschy talk show was on that he didn't really care about but he couldn't look at the other man's smug smile any longer. "I won't stop you from living in that fairytale inside your head. Go ahead and get us another drink."

The blond slipped from his fingers in one gentle move, shifted into his vision for a second, then weight got taken off the couch. Silence settled onto that empty spot at his feet and it was uncomfortable, nerve-wrecking silence that hit him in the face like a soaked cloth. His gaze parted from the TV screen towards Sanji who grabbed their empty glasses and bottle, his face free of all emotions and expressions. Their night was over, that was sure. Nothing out of the ordinary, most of the times their evenings together would end in a fight or someone leaving the room in silence. But they would always work it out again, something they both appreciated a lot since it made things less complicated and more enjoyable.

When the talk show got onto his nerves and the cook still wasn't back from the kitchen, he decided to look after him in case something was wrong. Or rather, to settle that he hadn't planned on ruining their night. Sometimes the cook would freak out about that, sometimes he didn't seem to care at all. It was up and down, black and white with him, if he was a woman, Zoro would seriously worry she was pregnant or having some other sort of hormonal disorder. However he wasn't sure if this sort of behavior was that much better.

Only the little lamps of the cupboards were turned on, leaving most of the kitchen in darkness. The tap was running, filling the sink with steaming hot water and a hand added soap to the water, turned the tap off again and dove the glasses into the soapy wet. Zoro leaned against the kitchen island and watched Sanji cleaning the glasses for a few minutes. No one needed more than five minutes to clean two wine glasses, unless the liquid had dried on the inside but then the effort didn't compensate the value of the glasses.

"What's wrong?" he asked bluntly and out of the blue, making the cook jump a little in surprise.

"Nothing, I'm just tired." Sanji pulled the glasses out from under the water, put them aside next to the sink for drying and let the water run down the drain. "And I think we had enough to drink, you have work to do tomorrow." He ran the tap loud enough to prevent any conversation developing as he cleaned the sink off the foam. It was a stupid lie, so obvious and he knew Zoro knew better but he could lie all he wanted, right? If he wanted to lie at the other man, then he would, it wasn't his business anyway.

"Fine, if you want to play that card again, no one's gonna stop you," Zoro shrugged, bucked himself off the counter and left to go to bed.

* * *

It was around eight o'clock when the scent of coffee tickled his nostrils and he slowly faded out of his chaotic dream into reality. The glance at the clock made him groan, what on Earth justified someone to make breakfast at 8am when they had no appointments nor plans nor work to attend. Not to mention that he had off from work today, as usual after a day out for investigations, and could decide whether he wanted to spend it lazing about or working on his papers in his home office. Hence he had had in mind to sleep in but his stomach was just too well trained to react when food was close and the smell of coffee was proof enough that breakfast was about to be ready.

Yawning he shuffled out of his bed, pulled on some shirt and stepped into the bathroom to follow the daily morning routine of brushing his teeth and washing his face. He'd shower after breakfast, it would just take too long and the cook would get bitchy if he wouldn't be downstairs within the next five minutes. After quickly doing his bathroom duties, he climbed down the stairs and approached another much appreciated daily routine: Loud music was coming from the opened kitchen door, a good-humored blond was dancing through the room, carrying bowls and plates of food over to the table in rhythm to the music. Some rather modern chanson was on, not Zoro's favorite but the cook had pleasure listening to such music.

Seeing Sanji in such a good temper made him forget about the outcome of last night and step into the room with a broad grin across his features. Unnoticed by the cook he approached him from behind as he stood by the stove, and with one quick move, rested his hands on the other's hips and whispered into his ear, "Mornin', darling."

He could just dodge when one powerful leg lashed out at him, only barely brushing his hair and ear. "Easy there, sweety, you don't want any blood spilled before breakfast, do you?" Zoro smirked at him and dodged another kick from Sanji.

"The hell I would taint this holy kitchen with your worthless blood, moron," Sanji snorted with a threatening glare before he turned back to his scrambled eggs.

"Oh of course," Zoro snickered and walked over to the radio to turn down the volume. Humming along to the song he sat down at the table and reached for the newspaper that was lying all ready for his eyes next to his plate. "You're a good wife."

"You know your face would look better with the underside of the frying pan burnt into it," Sanji countered through gritted teeth as he turned the still a little flabby eggs in the pan.

"As if you'd use your holy pan for that," Zoro yawned completely unimpressed, "Your threats are lacking backbone."

"Better than lacking brain," Sanji shot back, growing slightly frustrated with the rebellious eggs in the pan. After some more turning and moving across the bottom of the pan, he gave up, they weren't bad but not his standard either.

"And your insults too," Zoro added, his face hidden behind the newspaper. "When's your shift?"

"Two till eleven, you should come over with Luffy," Sanji replied and carried the scrambled eggs over to the table, placed the plate into the center and reached for the coffee to fill both their mugs.

"Yeah, when your shift's over. I hate watching you get insulted by anyone else but me," the swordsman said casually and turned the page.

"Too lovely," Sanji scoffed and fixed himself a bun with strawberry jam. "By the way, when was that party again?"

"Oh that charity thing?" Zoro asked, turning his head away from the newspaper to look at Sanji properly and grabbed his coffee, "Saturday night. Not sure we're going still since Luffy planned on taking Nami with him but since she's gone..."

And there was the subject Sanji had tried to ignore. His mind went back to last night, that call from Luffy bringing them the news he had been dreading to hear. No, he shouldn't let that ruin his day, Luffy surely knew how to get her back and chances were good that Nami would come back on her own, soon. Mentally he shook the thought off and thought up a good answer. "He could ask Robin. It's not like he has to justify who he's bringing along."

"Yeah, that's a good idea. You should tell him," Zoro suggested and turned back to the article on a new parking tax. "Want me to drive you to work later or will you take the tram?"

"No need to get mushy, I'm taking the tram," Sanji snapped and leaned back in his seat, biting down on the bun. It bothered him that Zoro always asked if he wanted to be driven to work, to the doctor's, to the market, to anywhere. Only because he hadn't wanted to get a driver's license which considering the results, he regretted a lot. Being dependent from Zoro in that case made him even more feel like the inapt girlfriend that needed to be taken care of.

"Getting up so early really doesn't help your mood, shitcook," Zoro pointed out, his eyes fixed on the newspaper in his hand; missing eye contact was something that usually freaked Sanji out.

"_You_ don't help my mood, asshole," Sanji hissed and reached for his coffee to get a big gulp of that bitter liquid. There was a pause, the voice of the radio dude announcing the weather forecast temporarily filled the room but that didn't satisfy him at all. He wanted to talk, he hated it when Zoro hid in the newspaper every morning instead of talking to him properly. "Wanna join me grocery shopping?"

"Sure, farmers' market?" Zoro asked, folded the newspaper and put it aside to fill his plate with scrambled eggs. "We could eat lunch at that little café you like so much."

"Yeah, sounds good," Sanji smiled at him in delight and sipped on his coffee, "Oh and could you pay the bill for the coffee table? I wanted to do that yesterday but then some stupid marimo kidnapped me."

"You poor little girl," Zoro grinned, feeling safe in his seat across from Sanji because latter never hit him over the breakfast table. Or during breakfast at all. "Anything else that needs to be done?"

"Wait... yeah, the door of my closet screeches, my laptop died on me yesterday and the faucet in the guest restroom seems to be broken... oh and you can take out the trash," Sanji replied, going through the mental list he had made yesterday. "If you go and buy a new laptop for me, I want that new one from the TV ad, the blue one."

Zoro just looked at him, with puckered brows, examining the other man's features as he went on and on with his chores for the day. It made him remember something Nami had said a while ago when she had been over for lunch one day. "You know, Nami was right, we do sound like a married couple."

"I know, I hate it," Sanji sighed, half out of played relief.

"It's creepy."

* * *

Later that day, Zoro pulled up on the parking lot of his workplace, still in a good mood. Lunch with Sanji had been quite funny despite the bickering and mocking and the embarrassing moment when the blond had grabbed his hand out of the blue when they had passed by a booth for exotic sea food. Though it was surprisingly very overwhelming to see Sanji happy like this over something as simple as fish, Zoro couldn't let the feeling go astray that had settled in the pit of his stomach. It had become harder to make the cook smile for good and most of all to make it last, so whenever it happened Zoro nurtured himself of that moment and locked the memory away in his head. As strange and a little bit frightening as it was but a happy Sanji could be the sun on a rainy day.

The reception room was busy as usual. People would come for all kinds of reasons, be it a simple contract for financial support or an application for a new enterprise or for much more complicated reasons. Inside the building were several different governmental departments, each one located on their own floor. For instance, the department dealing with unemployment and financial support was settled in the first and second floor, they were tending so many people at once that their department had been spread over two floors. The third floor belonged to the building inspection office, one floor above them resided the department of agriculture and forestry and on the fifth floor was the veterinary office. Last but not least, on the sixth floor were the offices of Luffy and him and about fifty other so called investigators. Each of them had their specific field and were assigned to one of the departments on the lower floors, just like in any other governmental building. It was the government's way of keeping an eye on populace, as well as secretly patrolling within the own ranks in each department. Fortunately Luffy and he hadn't had to tell on any of their colleagues for breaking the rules yet and Zoro intently hoped he would never have to make such an experience.

Working in such an environment had been difficult at first, for either Luffy and him. The easiest thing to get used to was the strict dress code of decent suits, followed by the daily routine of getting up early and having to focus and concentrate on reading through piles of papers every day to the many restrictions and rules they had had to agree to and live by. There was a thing called secrecy that both of them had had trouble sticking to at first, not to mention the level of vocabulary and knowledge about the country's law that they had been forced to study within the first five months as aspiring investigators. Usually they would have to have a degree of some renowned university in order to be accepted for an apprenticeship but the department had been short on follower-up's who weren't total wimps and so they had been lucky to have been given the chance to prove their skills. At least that was the story the two of them had been told.

The upper floors were less crowded by citizens than the first floor. Zoro was glad for it, usually it was very loud and smelly in the entrance hall and reception room and it happened almost daily that someone started a ruckus, rarely it came to people getting seriously injured. Most of them were blinded by their despair and misery and didn't realize how firing a gun at the poor lady at the reception wouldn't get them a job; a difficult situation for all of them.

As the departments were set on the floors due to their level of importance to the public, from the ground to the roof, as much Zoro liked to believe they were also sorted by their level of humor. In comparison to the first two floors where everyone was jaundiced and strict, the atmosphere in their department was that of a child's birthday party - as much as that was possible in a governmental facility.

Finally reaching the sixth floor, Zoro immediately made his way over to Luffy's and his shared office to drop off the papers Robin and Chopper had had to sign yesterday. He wasn't here to work; he had made sure to make that clear by coming in casual clothes so that no one would even dare to involve him in some sort of project. It was their unofficial rule that whoever entered the corridor of the sixth floor in casual clothes on their day off would be left alone and not engaged into work. Normally he would stay away from his workplace at all but today he had something else to do.

After sneaking into the kitchen for a cup of coffee, Zoro strolled through the corridors, knocking on some doors to say hi before settling into the office next to his own. It belonged to Oakley, one of the few people in this building who Luffy and he were able to call a true friend.

Mr. Daniel Oakley was a handsome man of thirty-five, very modest and down-to-earth. He was average compared to society's standards, his short black hair had no particular style, the front was combed back to the side, otherwise messy and short. His features didn't hide his age, his eyes were clear and brown, proving how honest and kind he was. Zoro liked that a lot about him; he never hid behind a mask, Oakley was himself and he was good at it.

"Oh, what a surprise," Oakley smiled broadly and immediately got up from his chair to greet his friend with a hug. "Wouldn't have expected you here!" He rushed over to the chairs across his desk to free one of them of messy piles of papers for Zoro to sit down. "Sorry, I'm still sorting them out..."

Chuckling Zoro shook his head, the memory of Luffy running around with Oakley's papers and throwing them around in the corridor came to his mind; it was just Luffy's luck that everyone tolerated his childish sense of humor. "No, it's okay, I will just punch him for that," he grinned at his friend and settled into the chair.

"Why are you here anyway?" The middle-aged man sat back down in his own chair, fixed himself a cup of coffee

and looked at his colleague.

"First of all - is it a crime to come and visit a friend on my day off? And I had to drop off some papers before they get lost again," Zoro admitted with small chuckle. They both knew why he was here, it was just a stupid verbiage. "I know, it's not like me but Sanji's at work, all my reports are written and Luffy's busy with his own life."

"Yeah, I know. He called me in the early morning to ask about Nami," Oakley sighed and brushed through his hair, "As much as I want to help him but sometimes he's extravagating. Anyway, I couldn't help him though. My wife knows about their problems but she doesn't talk to me about it and she wouldn't tell me about Nami's whereabouts even if she knew them. Which I guess she doesn't."

"Fuck," Zoro muttered and stared at the flowerpot on the window sill to think, "It doesn't surprise me though, that sounds so much like Nami. They're all sticking to her instead of helping us... It's really the last thing we needed right now."

"No need to tell me. And believe me, I tried to get through to Alicia but she wouldn't tell me." The black-haired man offered Zoro a small smile, he knew about their situation and knew as well that Nami's elopement had only made things worse.

"I know, you're a great friend," Zoro smiled widely back at him, "I'm sure Luffy appreciates that as well, he's just got other things on his mind right now."

Oakley nodded and put his cup down to reach for his drawer. "Who could blame him." Pulling out a green folder, he smiled a little proudly at the work inside it and placed it on the desk in front of him. "I guess that's what you're here for."

"You know me too well," Zoro chuckled and shifted closer with his chair. Inside that green folder he hoped to find the information he had been waiting for all those months and judging from its size, there would be plenty of it.

Pretty fast they had learned that Oakley was a trustworthy person, perfect at keeping secrets and even better at collecting information from all kinds of sections. So about two months ago, after they had revealed their true selves to Oakley, Zoro had asked him to gather some information for them on their friends, or rather whenever strange people would be sighted. It really paid off to have an ally who had so many acquaintances in different areas and fields, that way they just had to find their friends.

"I told you I wouldn't be able to make miracles happen but I think I can say that I've done a remarkable job this time," Oakley grinned widely, the pride and triumph clearly visible in his face, "I couldn't find out about any abnormal people or anything of that sort but I remembered what Sanji and you told me about that night you came into town and about your friend Usopp."

Zoro frowned, his thoughts travelled back to that dark night when they had been separated. They had gotten involved in some gang fight and hadn't been able to free themselves, let alone flee, they had been lucky for the police to end the battle and help them out alive. Sanji and he had been brought to the same hospital where they had found each other pretty quickly again while Usopp... well, they hadn't ever heard of him again.

"Well, the good news are that your friend might as well be still alive." The dark-haired man leaned back with a wide smile, enjoying the sight of his friend comprehending the news.

Usopp could be alive? Not that he had given up his hopes but it seemed less and less possible that the sniper could've survived that attack. But even the tiniest possibility of Usopp still being alive would be enough, those were news he couldn't wait to break to Sanji. "Okay, go on," he urged him on with a smile.

"You said he was injured in the fight and so I asked my sister who works in the very hospital you and Sanji were taken to." His smile fading, Oakley opened the folder and skipped through the pages to find the one he needed, "Your friend was taken to the same hospital at first but the gunshot damaged a part of his lungs and they brought him to a different hospital that night. Lucky for you, one of the doctors there owed me a favor, so I could get the information I needed." Oakley shot him a quick grin before browsing through his papers once again. "He was in a coma for a while but everything went well, actually he was released about a year and a half ago. That's all I know though."

Leaning back in his chair again, Zoro weighed out the newly received information in his head, turning and twisting it and searching for any loophole. In the end, he didn't have the mind to doubt Oakley's words and felt the broadest smile settling onto his features. "I really owe you a lot... you are my man."

"Well, I'm glad I could help," Oakley smiled back with a slight blush on his cheeks, "And it feels good that it's for once for a good reason."

"Hell it is!" Zoro agreed, the smile never leaving his lips. He was relieved and happy, so damn relieved that Usopp was alive that their other problem seemed far away now. "I can't wait to tell the others... this will finally help Sanji to get rid of his nightmares."

"That's really great, he looked miserable the last time I met him," Oakley sighed, a small smile lingering on his lips, sinking into his thoughts for a moment. "I will still keep an eye out and try to find out more about your friends, especially that Usopp guy. And of course, Nami. Though I guess she'll come back on her own in the end."

"Who knows, she can be unpredictable." Zoro hid his facial expression in his coffee, the red-haired witch had always been a difficult matter for him. But Oakley was right, in the end Nami would come back to them; no matter how much money they would offer her, she still loved them and they were nakama after all, not even she could dump them so easily.

Their conversation quickly changed to less depressing topics and so Zoro found himself staying for another hour until Oakley threw him out and he drove home to work on his list of chores.

* * *

With a loud clang the pot fell to the ground next to him, hitting the already cracked tiles with enough force to damage them beyond repair. Another object flew into his direction, this time he could dodge so the utensil hit the wall to his right, but the intention that came along with it didn't miss its target. Wordlessly he knelt down to pick up the saucepan and placed it into the sink in front of him, there was no end in sight anyway so he better get to clean it right away as well. Leaning down to pick up the other object, he realized that it had been a knife that had been thrown at him, thankfully a blunt one.

His head ached where the pot had hit him, he felt a little dizzy when leaning over but tried to ignore it as much as he could. Breaks weren't granted, most of all not to him, so he had no other option than to force himself to hold on and keep on going. There were still five more hours to go until his shift was over and he needed to survive them somehow, if only barely.

He rubbed over the sensitive spot at the side of his head with his carpal bone to ease off the aching. Instead of helping, he had to hiss at the touch, it burnt as if the chemical dish soap had come in contact with an open wound. Pulling his hand away, he was surprised to find blood dripping from his palm, mixing in with the soapy water. What was he supposed to do now? He couldn't wash the dishes with a bleeding wound on his head, given he wouldn't lose consciousness in the following minutes. For one, he needed to clean his hand before continuing his work, and then wash the blood out of his hair so that the wound wouldn't be visible.

"You're bleeding! What the hell happened?" A familiar and definitely appreciated voice sounded in his ears and made him turn his attention on its owner. Their head waiter stood in the door and stared at him in shock, his clear green eyes widened and focused on the wound.

Dropping the knife he was holding under water, he reached for a paper towel to dry his hands. "Nothing, just got hit with a saucepan," he replied darkly, turning his back to the older man.

"For Christ's sake, Sanji, don't downplay it!" The maître d' put the tray of dirty dishes onto the counter and walked over to his friend to examine the wound further. Blood was tainting the younger man's blonde hair, drying on the soft bangs and sticking the strands together. It wasn't big but that didn't matter, there was a wound that apparently had been inflicted by another person.

When the other man reached out to touch the sensitive spot, Sanji flinched away and glared at him warningly, "Leave it, okay? It's _nothing_."

"It is _something_, so let me see! It needs to be treated properly," the waiter insisted and stepped closer again just to be pushed off again. "Don't be so stubborn. You're fucking wounded, your head is bleeding! That's the worst situation to be too proud!"

"That's my business, Chris, okay! Leave me the fuck alone!" Sanji hissed, walked past him to pick up the tray and gently drop the dishes into the burning hot water as well.

"Fine! I only tried to help!" Chris snapped, he was fed up with his co-worker's extreme mood swings. Annoyed with the current mood the blond was in, he stormed out of the room to get back to his own work and worry about his own business again.

Feeling even worse now, Sanji tried to focus back on his job of cleaning the dishes and cutlery. He really liked Chris, they were getting along so well and the older head waiter always stood up for him, no matter what trouble it meant for himself in the end. There were kind people in this restaurant after all, however they usually worked different hours than Sanji and so they would hardly ever be there when he needed their support. Most of the time it was him and the cooks, those ungrateful, greasy bastards that put more effort and thought into throwing insults and pots after him than actually cooking good food. Or rather edible food at all. It was a mystery to Sanji how each day there were so many people dining in this tavern when the food was obviously brackish.

With a sigh he pushed the thoughts out of his head, especially the ones of Chris and how he had rejected such a friendly gesture. His head was still throbbing painfully, the bleeding was no different and he couldn't fight the feeling of dizziness taking hold of him with every move. Work would only be worse from now on, with the wound slowing him down and no Chris to distract him from the glares of the cooks.

How he wished he would be safe in his little separate room; it was a little chamber for dish-washing so to say with a lockable door even. It was located in the far end of the restaurant, far away from the dining rooms and with a tiny window directed to the dirty backyard. On some days it felt like a prison cell to him, being cut off from everyone else, from life out there with only the window as proof that outside really existed but on most days he was lucky to be stuck here all alone. Unfortunately he was forced to trespass the kitchen whenever he needed to go for the toilette, for breaks or whenever he wanted to leave the room at all. Those were the moments they used to throw objects at him, as if being the dishboy alone wasn't humiliating enough.

Usually he was able to dodge them, usually they only aimed for his shoulders or back, usually they never threw knives. All the time their intentions were cruel, they loathed him and wanted him to suffer for whatever reason that Sanji didn't know. Never before had they hit him hard enough for him to bleed so much thus he was able to hide the physical part of the bullying from his friends. He didn't need Luffy nor Zoro to find out, no, thanks, he was fine on his own.

So there was another problem; he needed to get rid of the blood on his hair and make the wound stop bleeding before his shift would be over. Because then, Zoro would notice, and then, Zoro would flip out on the cooks and then Sanji would lose his job forever. It had already been hard to get this one, he didn't want to go through the torturesome search of a new occupation again.

Well, he had no other option than to take a quick break and treat his wound as much as he was able to without pulling everyone's attention on himself. Dropping the cutlery, he tried to ignore the burning sensation at the side of his head and tried to keep his gaze focused as it became more and more blurry with each step he did. Could things could get worse? From experience he knew that there was no kind of limit in that case, so he just had to hope for the best, and that better be the last thing happening today.

The way through the kitchen took him forever. Everyone was staring at him, a few were pointing at his head laughing viciously at the sight. They would celebrate their triumph over him later on for sure, judging from the huge grins on their faces and the clapping on each other's back, as if they had shot a valuable prey. And maybe he was their prey, maybe he was the _thing_ they were playing hunting with; it would explain so much. He was no co-worker to them, he was no human being to them that they respected, he was _something_ they could test their cruel ideas on. Realizing this made his stomach churn threateningly, feeling inferior to them was one thing but knowing that in their eyes he wasn't even worth of being a human being was a lot different.

With as much willpower he could bring up to ignore them, Sanji worked his way through the kitchen towards the waiters' recreation room, knowing he would be safe from the cooks there. Also, they had a first-aid kit, even though he had no idea how to apply bandage to his head without anyone able to see. There was also his hair that shouldn't be drenched in blood and was probably being sucked into the open wound; Chopper would kill him if he found out about it. Come to think of it - what would he tell them, if they found out, which to be honest was inevitable? _Oh, I hit my head on the shelf, clumsy me! _That would at least work for Chopper, Robin would probably stay quiet about her own conclusions and Luffy was too occupied with Nami, leaving only Zoro to be convinced. An impossibility since the swordsman knew him too well, damn his observant eyes, and he knew that Sanji wasn't by far clumsy, particularly not in a kitchen. So what was he supposed to say? Other than to push his luck by lying, he had no better idea.

And so he chose the easiest way of treating his wound; after cleaning it as best as he could, he put a compress on the bleeding spot and wrapped bandage around his head to fixate it on the hurt. It looked stupid and made it appear worse than it actually was but it was the only way he knew how to solve his problem. Add some painkillers and he would be fine to go back to work, he reassured himself.

* * *

When it was about time to head home, Sanji made sure to escape his room before the other cooks could try their luck at hurting him again. He was done with them for today, if not even for the rest of the week, and definitely didn't need another wound on his body to show off their triumph over him. From now on, he would just try to avoid them even more, try to train his senses again so he could dodge their attacks in the future. Yeah, that was a good plan.

Emerging from the kitchen, he noticed Zoro already sitting by the bar, chatting cheerfully with Chris who was cleaning the glasses. The dining area was almost empty, only a few pairs were sitting in the far corners hidden from the ceiling lights. Sanji loved the restaurant like this, when the waiters would use the lack of patrons to test their barkeeper skills and pull off quite some show. Usually after his shift, he would watch them try or improve their tricks, sometimes Zoro would be there too and they would still talk about the spectacularity of it on their way home. Those were the few moments that made him like the job here but sadly they were too weak to blank out the rest.

"Hey," Sanji smiled and halted next to Zoro, he considered settling onto the stool next to him but decided against it. He wanted to leave for home right away, and if he'd sat down, they would stay for longer than he would like.

The green-haired man looked up from his glass of whiskey, a broad smile curling up the corners of his lips and his eyes were shining happily; a rare but beautiful sight. But as quickly as the smile had crawled onto Zoro's face, it was gone again, leaving a shocked expression and worry in his voice. "What the hell happened to your head?"

"Ah," Sanji grimaced and shifted from one foot onto the other, "Hit my head." _Stop worrying, shithead, drop it, please, please, please._

With a frown on his face, Zoro shook his head, his eyes observing the blond's behavior. "Against what? Don't tell me you bumped into the door."

"Well, what if I did?" Sanji challenged, the smile long faded from his lips.

"Don't give me that shit. If your head met with the door, you would only bruise, especially you of all people. That looks like someone punched you with something sharp," Zoro insisted, rose the glass to his lips but didn't take his eyes from Sanji. There was something off about him and he would find out, no matter how annoying he had to be.

"So? Doors have sharp edges too, especially those of cupboards. And I'm just not as skilled at bandaging myself up as you, idiot!" Sanji snapped, slowly growing impatient. He had chosen the right words to say to make Zoro believe his lie and now that idiot was crushing it all.

"Tch," Zoro chuckled darkly, shaking his head again. "I don't believe you and thanks a lot for lying to me. I thought we were past this."

All the while, Chris was watching their conversation with an eagle eye. It was almost impossible not to interfere and tell the truth, he could feel the urge burning at the tip of his tongue. Someone needed to end this, and who would be better than Zoro? He was an outsider and what's more, he had the power to give their cooks and manager the payback they deserved.

"We are! But I can't help you if you keep on thinking that everything I say is just another excuse!" All the yelling and the rising anger inside of him made Sanji's head ache, he felt nausea taking its toll on him. To avoid passing out, he leaned against the bar and slipped onto the stool, almost hugging the counter with one arm.

Seeing his friend almost losing consciousness, Chris decided to put a stop to this lie. Filling a glass with cool water for him, he sighed, "He _got_ hit in the head. One of our cooks finally hit the grand prize, I guess." Putting the glass down before Sanji, he smiled, "Here, don't push yourself."

"You- he- what-," Zoro stuttered, looking from the waiter to Sanji, "What is he talking about?"

When Sanji didn't respond, Chris filled in for him again, "The cooks enjoy throwing stuff at him. But they never really hit him and never that hard. You ought to take him to a doctor, I'm pretty sure it needs to be stitched up."

Zoro stared at the blond before him for a moment, mouth slightly gaping open in shock. He couldn't wrap his mind around that new information on Sanji's work, he... how come he hadn't noticed? They lived together, they shared a bathroom together, they told each other almost everything. Or did getting physically abused by your co-workers belong to the things one didn't talk about? Zoro shook his head again, slid off his stool and rummaged through his pants pocket for some beli to pay his drink. He'd deal with those brainless bastards later. "Come on, I'll drive you to Chopper."

Accepting his defeat, Sanji dropped his gaze and sat the glass of water back down, having only taking two gulps. Without another word, he climbed off the barstool and leaned against the counter again for support, the dizziness was coming back at full force now. He didn't dare to push Zoro off when he wrapped an arm around him for steadying him, he had ruined enough by trying to lie him into his face. And he didn't need Zoro to freak out on him as well, one person to be angry at him was enough for one day.

They made it to the car without much difficulty, safe from two of the cooks standing outside chatting after their shift; luckily Sanji was too focused on fighting nausea and dizziness to pay them attention. The way Zoro was holding onto him tighter, his jaw clenched and that typical glistening in his eyes made it too obvious how much the swordsman had to restrain himself from beating them up. Though Sanji was very aware that now, it wouldn't matter anymore, Zoro would pay them back sooner or later anyway.

"I'm sorry for lying to you," Sanji mumbled once he was safely sitting on the passenger's seat. "I know I shouldn't have kept that from you..."

"Doesn't matter now." Zoro's response was curt, he made it obvious that he wasn't in the mood to talk, especially not about this. Sanji didn't dare to speak up again making the drive to Chopper and Robin's estate was uncomfortably quiet and tense. He knew how to read Zoro's silence; this wouldn't be the end of it. Not at all.

* * *

Sorry, for the very late update. I promise that'll never happen again! D; Chapter 4 is already completely planned out, I only need to continue writing it down.

Thanks so much for the reviews and the favorites and most of all for reading!


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